


Enemy of the Nation

by SpaceShark



Series: Semper Fi [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Punisher (Comics), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, BAMF Frank Castle, BAMF Maria Hill, Civil War (Marvel), Conspiracy, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst, Protective Steve Rogers, Shameless Smut, Steve Feels, Tony Stark Has Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-04-16 07:39:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 52,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4616943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceShark/pseuds/SpaceShark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Civil War fic. While Steve Rogers and Wanda Maximoff fight to keep the Avengers up and running, Frank Castle and Maria Hill work to uncover one of the greatest enemies of the free world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello again, everyone. Here we begin part four of  _Semper Fi_ , which deals with my take on Marvel's Civil War. I'm drawing from the comics, the movies, and a plethora of my conspiracy thriller authors and novels, along with my own little mind. This story follows both  _Of Their Own Accord_  and  _Stand By Me_ , though you can probably get by without reading any of that. If you're reading either story and are wondering where the next chapter for either of them is, be assured that I'll get to them. Right now I'm trying to make sure I don't lose focus on this arc.

This story gets an mature rating for the usual stuff I write (violence, language, smut, etc) and all the warnings for that apply. It's more plot driven, but I hope it'll be balanced out enough to enjoy down the road. It has well-established Punisher/Maria Hill, near-developed Steve/Wanda, some mentions of Falcon/Darcy and Tony/Pepper, and the beginnings of Bucky/Natasha. I'm incorporating most of the MCU into this one, so I thought I'd do a brief (and probably incomplete) list of principle characters (both canon and OCs) for this story:

**New Avengers Facility:**

-Nick Fury, former Director of SHIELD and Chief Operator  
-Maria Hill, Director of Operations, liaison of Stark Industries  
-Steve Rogers aka Captain America, Team Leader of the Avengers  
-Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, Assistant Team Leader  
-Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes aka War Machine, Air Force liaison to the Avengers  
-Sam Wilson aka Falcon  
-Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch, telekinesis specialist  
-Vision, synthetic android  
-Frank Castle aka Punisher, deniable operations specialist  
-Simon "Ghost" Riley, British weapons specialist  
-Darcy Lewis, secretary

**United States Government**

-President Matthew Ellis  
-Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, Secretary of State  
-Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense  
-Jim Berry, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency  
-Sharon Carter, special agent, CIA  
-Henry Gyrich, senior special agent, Federal Bureau of Intelligence, on loan to the Avengers Facility

**Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (disavowed)**

-Phil Coulson, Director  
-Agent Melinda May  
-Daisy Johnson aka Skye, Inhuman  
-Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird  
-Lance Hunter, mercenary

**Other Characters of Note**

-Tony Stark aka Iron Man, owner of Stark Industries  
-Virginia "Pepper" Potts, CEO of Stark Industries  
-Baron Helmut Zemo  
-Brock Rumlow aka Crossbones, former commander of STRIKE (disavowed alongside SHIELD)  
-James "Bucky" Barnes aka Winter Soldier, known former HYDRA asset and Soviet assassin, location unknown  
-Scott Lang, former inmate at San Quintin State Penitentiary  
-Aleksander Lukin, CEO of Kronas Corporation  
-T'Challa, King of Wakanda  
-Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, former member of the original Avengers Initiative (on paternity leave)  
-Matt Murdock, attorney at Nelson and Murdock's Law Office  
-Peter Parker, student at Midtown High School

And now, a small prologue for the time being…

_Berlin, July 2015_

In retrospective, Helmut Zemo found it a peculiar way of starting a war. Then again, he wasn't the one to start it. That would have been Pierce. He'd warned Pierce that it was too early for HYDRA to come out of the shadows. But choices were made, and now here Zemo was, in charge of what was left of HYDRA. And it was up to him to save it.

In some ways, it was like a game of chess. Chess had always been a passion of Zemo's. At its very core, chess was nothing more than recognizing the patterns your opponent was making, and hiding the patterns you yourself were creating. On the board, it might be a rook moving three squares, but it's the rook's move, along with many other correlated moves, that achieved the desired goal.

The game Zemo was playing was not on a board, but rather, across the planet. And there were reason for doing so.

Three helicarriers fall out of the sky and into the Potomac, and the world chalks it up as an act of terrorism. The Russian Federation occupies a small Balkan nation, and everyone looks the other way. A squad of British SAS soldiers flies out of London, breaks into a house in Germany, murders a man in front of his family, and it's called justice being served.

Lies were commonplace. This one wouldn't be any different. Zemo had no regrets sending out Rumlow doing what needed to be done.

After all, what better way to begin this great game than with a move no one would have seen coming?


	2. Just Another Day

Stab to the left. Stab to the right. Two more enemies fell down, the life drained out of them. The half dimmed lights covered the bodies well enough.

Frank Castle, also known as the Punisher in the underworld, thought he was getting good at this. Too good at this, in fact. Being the metaphorical garbage boy for the Avengers and what was left of SHIELD sounded like shit to the ordinary person, but it was actually good for ex-Navy SEALS like himself.

He'd been doing this for several months now, ever since last summer. Pay was good, he got all the equipment he needed, and he had a beautiful woman whenever he got off time.

Some would say he was living a dream job. He thought he was just moving along.

He was wearing an odd combination of black tactical gear mixed with little modifications of his own. For example, the white skull that was painted over his Kevlar chest plate. The chest plate itself was made of some nanotech material Natasha Romanoff claimed was form fitting and still deflected bullets. The rest of his outfit was lined with ammo pockets, guns holders, and knife sheaths. A suppressed MP5K submachine gun was in his left hand.

All of this was needed to break into a maximum security prison. Ok, maybe not all if it, but it never hurt.

The building would have three more low-ranking hostiles, along with his target at the building: Jack Rollins. According to Maria Hill, the woman he returned to for mission updates, Jack Rollins was one of the moles within STRIKE, a HYDRA infested special force. It got disbanded after the fall of SHIELD, but its members went underground, either sticking with HYDRA or becoming mercenaries for hire. Rollins was one of the latter.

Frank sheathed the knife and chirped into his earpiece. "Maria, what exactly is Rollins doing here?" Frank was currently in the middle of the damned underground section of the prison.

"According to Coulson, he's attempting to break out Fisk." Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, had been transferred to that prison's underground cells two weeks ago. "I've already wiped clean the 3 million he paid Rollins to break him out, but it won't matter if he escapes anyways."

"Understood." That meant, to Frank, that he was free to do whatever he wanted to with Rollins. Dead or alive, he didn't care.

Frank scanned the hallway leading to isolation, where Kingpin was being held. Another mercenary was there, looking around in the dark with Uzi submachine gun. It wasn't the most accurate of weapons, but it made up for that with sheer firepower.

Not that Frank was going to be bothered with any of that. A clean headshot, and the man went down, dead before he hit the concrete below him.

One more down. Three more to go.

Amiss the darkened cells and shouts of the scumbags held here, Frank found the next enemy, who was strolling out of a stairwell and right into Frank's line of sight. Frank shot him in the fraction of a second.

"Headed to level 3," Frank said on his earpiece to Maria.

"Gotcha. Keep in touch." Maria Hill took off her own earpiece and turned in her roller chair to face Nick Fury. "He's way in. He'll get Rollins."

"Or kill him." Nick Fury was always one for exploring something from every angle, and Frank Castle was no exception.

"Does it matter, sir?" Maria and Nick didn't always agree with each other, but both had a begrudging respect for each other. It had been developed over several years' worth of working side by side.

"You tell me, Hill. You tell me. You think there's anything we could get out of Rollins that we didn't know already?"

Maria bit her lip. "I guess that depends on Rollins himself."

"Exactly. Tell Castle to not kill him. At least we can't say that we didn't try."

She rolled her eyes, and then said, "Frank, don't kill Rollins if you can. Fury and the FBI want him brought in for interrogation."

"You fucking kidding me?" was Frank's snarky reply. The other people at their computers in Fury's control room could hear him.

If it weren't for their relationship, she'd discipline him. Another time, another place.

"No, I'm not. If you got disappointed, I'll make it up to you later."

"Whatever." Frank's connection closed as Maria sighed. For all his faults, Frank was as loyal as a dog and as passionate as only he could be. Passionate towards his work, passionate to her, she took it all in.

However, she had to keep a stone stare as Frank proceeded to stab another HYDRA henchman. Not to mention Steve, Wanda, and Vision were out helping with recovery efforts in collapsed bridge in Boston. And she was the one they had to rely on to guide them through the whole thing.

All in a day's work for the Director of Operations.

Frank silently dropped the last henchman on the ground as soon as he knifed him. Without waiting for anyone, Frank pulled out his silenced MP5K and approached Rollins, who was still unaware of his men being grabbed and disappearing. Rollins was an ugly man with a seemingly permanent scowl.

Frank put his night vision on and put the silenced submachine gun at Rollins' head. "Hold it right there, motherfucker-"

Rollins snapped back and delivered a powerful punch. In the right place and person, it could easily dislocate a limb or break a man's jaw. Frank, however, was able to block the fist with his arm, taking a blow nevertheless, but far less than if he'd been hit in the face. From, there, it was a fistfight, since Rollins had disarmed Frank of the MP5K.

Both men kept throwing punches at each other, but neither could get the other upper hand. They were very well matched: Rollins had the element of offense on his side, but Frank had the nanotech armor to keep himself from getting too hurt. When all of this was done, he'd only have a few cracked bones at worst.

Then, sensing a weak point, Frank pretend to block his face while stepping on Rollins' foot at the same time. As expected, Rollins grimaced at the unexpected pain and lurched back. Frank took advantage of this to move forward and grab Rollins from behind.

"You know," said Frank, "I really want to just kill you and get this shit over with. But I can't. Maria Hill and Nick Fury want to have a word."

"They can go f-"

Jack Rollins was unable to finish, because Frank put a hand on his mouth. At the same time, Frank used his other hand to twist Rollins' arm as hard as he could. Rollins cried out in pain.

"Time to go." Ignoring Rollins' next wave of curses, Frank pulled out a tranquilizer dart and stuck in in Jack's neck. It took a few seconds for the drugs to do their work, but when they did, Rollins was out for the foreseeable future. Frank took a moment to look around to see if there was anyone else, but he found no one but Fisk himself, looking mighty pissed that his escape plan was down the toilet. Frank turned to face him.

"Sorry pal," Frank said with false joy. "Maybe next time, don't hire people on the Avenger shit list."

From there, Frank fireman carried Rollins up the stairs and out of the underground levels. As planned, a pair of men dressed as police guards were there to escort both him and Rollins out of the rest of the prison. A Blackhawk helicopter was waiting for them on the launch pad.

As the heli took off, Frank made another call to Maria. "I got him."

"Good. Now get back to base. I haven't seen you in two weeks."  _Translation: I miss you. And other things._  He smiled internally.

A few minutes after the helicopter took off, one of the men that had escorted him, a shorter fellow with graying hair and an infectious smile, introduced himself to Frank. ""Special Agent Henry Gyrich, FBI. I'm the-"

"You're the new agent that's keeping tabs for the government," said Frank. "I already know." Frank went back to his journal. Keeping a log helped him to pass the time.

_Finally get another break. Always appreciated when I'm not shooting terrorists or laying the groundwork for Captain America to look good. At least Maria appreciates me. In more ways than one._

_This has got to be one of the last HYDRA people I capture, this Rollins. Coulson and his team recently captured Grant Ward again (how many chances does he get?) and placed him in the same cell as his old teacher Tony Masters. Maybe they'll cuddle or some shit._

_It does seem HYDRA is having less of an influence that it did eighteen months ago. I wonder why that is._

* * *

Okay, so Steve Rogers had been made as the ultimate soldier. But he wasn't just a soldier, was he? He was a man, with all the terms and conditions that came with being a man.

Like, for example, being in love. This caused him to yell at Wanda Maximoff not to get too close to the part of the bridge that was going to collapse any minute. If anything happened, he wanted Vision dealing with it, not her.

Vision was the one who could phase through matter, not Wanda.

The Avengers were, for all purposes, still PR people. Sure they were here to do the jobs that regular police and fire couldn't do, but even still, they were more like celebrities, even now. Steve had to turn down so many people wishing to take "selfies" with him. The teenage girls that did this were usually pretty disappointed. But none of it mattered, really.

He wasn't exactly sure if this was his first time being in love. He didn't know if Peggy still counted. But in any case, he was here in the twenty first century, and he had found himself a nice girl that viewed him as a rock. That alone was worth his sympathy.

It had grown into something more, whether he intended for it to or not.

"Vision," he calls out, pushing thoughts of his relationship out of his mind, "I need you to get those last two cars on the north side of the bridge. Wanda, keep clearing the rubble on the other side and get these people out of here."

"Yes, Steve," came Wanda's reply.

"Understood, Captain," said the android. He proceeded to fly up to the broken part of the north side of the concrete bridge, announce his intentions to the terrified passengers in one of the cars (it was hanging on a broken ledge), and then lifted the car to safety on another road down on the flat ground. The passengers, a woman and her two kids, hastily said thanks to Vision before running off and calling 911.

A few police cars and an ambulance where here, but the majority of expected emergency support was not. It was up to the Avengers sent here to monitor the area until more help could arrive.

Suddenly, there was a terrifying scream. The other car had lost its balance and began slowly falling off the cliff, the man and woman inside helpless to do anything to stop it but cry for some sort of help.

Vision heard their need for assistance, but he didn't get there in time. It wasn't a bad thing, however: Steve watched as Wanda reached out with her hand and telepathically engulfed the car in a cloud of red mist, causing it to stand still. She then proceeded to slowly lower it to the ground, next to where Vision had placed the first car.

The terrified couple got out and began some heartfelt "thank yous" directed at Wanda. She didn't know what else to do and smile.

"I think you'd say 'you're welcome' back," said Steve, walking up to kiss her on the cheek. Some of the New York tabloids had gotten on to their "secret" relationship, but most people were in the dark. Steve figured it would only be a matter of time before People and Star began talking about how Captain America had been entranced by the "Scarlet Witch".

Natasha might have been amused by all of that, but not Steve Rogers. He was a man that stuck to the people he cared about, regardless of the cost. That was why he'd chosen to try and convince Bucky that he was more than HYDRA's prized lapdog, that he was his former best friend. He didn't know how much of an effect he'd had (mostly because Bucky had been missing without a sighting for months), but at least he wasn't assassinating for HYDRA anymore. Or so he thought.

After telling the thankful couple where to head to, Steve focused his attentions on Wanda again. "We did good," he said, squeezing her in a quick embrace.

"Yes we did," she said back reassuringly.

Steve and Wanda went to a nearby curb and took a water break. He was in the middle of finishing his second bottle when his cell phone rang. It was Darcy Lewis, the secretary at the facility and Sam's current squeeze. "Darcy?"

"Steve?" The usual sardonic tone was gone, replaced by seriousness. That meant something.

"Yea, it's me. What is it?"

"You know how you wanted me to keep track of Peggy Carter's health?"

"Yes I do remember that."

Darcy told him.

Steve was in shock. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He dropped the phone and slumped, his hands in his head.

"Steve," asked Wanda, wanting to know what was troubling him, "what is it?"

"Peggy. They said she passed away in her sleep last night. I can't believe it…"

Wanda let him sit there on the curb and brush a tear from his eyes. She knew how much Peggy Carter had meant to Steve: as one of the only people Steve knew from the 1940s, he'd spent a lot of time in the nursing home she'd been living in. And now, that link was gone from him.

"Gone," said Steve mournfully. "She's gone…"

Without saying a word, she wrapped herself around him as best she could, just to give him the warmth he could use. Vision flew by, and asked what was wrong, but Wanda hesitantly dismissed him:  _not now._ He nodded and left, knowingly.

Wanda remembered that Steve's induced vision had involved Carter, and all the missed opportunities that lay within. She felt even more ashamed that she'd made him see that. In retrospective, it was just cruel.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Frank's Blackhawk was touching down in a private airstrip in the middle of nowhere. The land, of course, belonged to Tony Stark. Waiting at the airstrip as well was a lone Quinjet, with the old SHIELD logo painted on it.

Right on time.

Frank and Henry got out to meet up with Maria. Dress in her usual tight bodysuit, she shook hands with Gyrich, thanked him for his services, then patted Frank on the back and directed him in the jet.

"I'll take Rollins from here," said Gyrich. "The FBI and CIA will have a field day with him. We'll hand him over soon."

"I'm satisfied," said Maria. "Agent Carter will be in touch."

"Do I get a thank you too?" Frank asked in his sarcastic voice as the Quinjet took off.

She grinned at him. "There's a reason I set the jet on autopilot."

So be it. They kissed and they began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as you might tell, this chapter took me longer than usual to post. That's kind of what it's going to be like for the next few weeks. Anyways, just keep leaving kudos and leaving comments and I'll keep typing and thinking of story ideas!


	3. Emotional Bundle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, more smut from me. If for whatever reason you don't like it, see if you can scroll down a little bit, lol.
> 
> Kind of just laying the foundation still. I think I've doing an okay job of keeping the balance between writing about Frank/Maria and writing about Steve/Wanda. Just be sure to let me know what you think of it. Also, I think weekly updates will work for now. Should help me with schedules and stuff. I've never watched Agent Carter (I'll put it on my 'to do' list), so I made Peggy's family rather vague in case there's something from the show that might contradict anything.

The Quinjets were meant to hold up to eight people at a time. It could sure as hell hold the two of them and anything they wanted.

Kissing all the way, Frank and Maria began undressing themselves in the sizable volume of the jet. Frank worked on zippers and straps while Maria kissed him softly in every which way. Eventually they got to that point where they were comfortable enough to begin.

"I think it's your turn," said Frank in his dour voice. They'd been taking turns whenever these get-togethers took place, and he was keeping track of whose turn it was.

Maria just made an "hmm" sound, then began nipping softly at his chest hair. She slowly made her way down to where Frank was expecting it.

Their off time usually went something like this. With one person was globetrotting and risking his life half the time, it made sense. Might as well appreciate each other while you still had them around, and when they were always on the edge.

Maria kept all that in mind as she began stroking his shaft slowly, back and forth. Frank looked down at her with a gaze that said everything. They didn't speak, but they didn't need to. When your Quinjet was going to land in less than twenty minutes, you didn't waste time.

Frank lazily leaned back on his chair as Maria took him in her mouth, keeping eye contact as she did. He just hoped she knew how fast the effect was going to be on him. He kept a straight face as she worked on him, getting his heart rate up.

Without making a sound, he got to that point where his body wouldn't do anything other than kick back and relax. Maria knew it too, judging for the slight gag she made when she was swallowing his discharge. He brushed a strand of her hair out of the way as she maintained herself, looking straight at him while finished spending himself in her throat.

Once he was done, Maria let her mouth go and wiped her lips. Frank also took a moment to get rid of excess sweat. "I think that makes us even."

"I'd say so, if your last mission was added in." said Maria in reply to him. A month ago, Frank had been sent on a trip to Sokovia, to analyze the Russian military presence in the small country. Russia had been occupying the country ever since the Ultron Crisis, and its actions had drawn a harsh response from much of the world community. What was described as a "humanitarian mission" was really just another excuse for Putin to extend his hold on Europe. As if Ukraine and gas weren't enough…

"I already added it in, sweetcakes. Now get on my lap, I'm not done with you yet." She did as he wanted, sitting in his lap and kissing him as she put the head of the cock in her. They clicked almost instantly afterwards. He fit within her very nicely, and that translated to a bunch of moaning and whining.

Frank, for his part, just used his hands to keep her body in check while moving her up and down. "You know, I could get used to this," he said in between slaps of body on body. "Screwing on autopilot."

"Is that what you call it?" she said in between thrusts. "It has a nice ring to it. 'Screwing on autopilot.' I'll have to remember it."

"Just like I have to remember how you like this?" A tight squeeze of her breasts followed.

"Fuck, you are too good." She knew his hands were good with weapons, and they were just as good with her body.

"So I'm told," he said while flicking at her nipples. "How's Russia reacting to Sokovia, by the way?" He'd sabotaged several of their facilities during his time in the Balkans.

"Like you'd expect," she giggled I between various reactions of pleasure to being aroused. "Pissed, like they just got fucked hard."

"You want it?" he asked. She nodded. "Good. I'd expect nothing less."

"I already know how you like it, big guy. Raw and hard. And make it count."

A minute later he pulled her in again for another kiss. Then he turned her around, one hand grabbing and pulling on her dark hair while her shoulders pressed to the wall. He kept the other hand free, and he knew how to take advantage of that, hand squeezing her breast again, roughly as only a man can. Oh, and the rhythm continued on.

His free hand went down, and stroked against her clit just  _right_ , and he's pressing down hard with his thumb. The rhythm was getting torn apart as they approached ever so sooner what they wanted out of this "session".

"Yes yes yes," she muttered over and over. He just felt so good inside her.

"You first," whispered Frank tenderly in Maria's ear. "Why should I have all the fun?"

He didn't have all the fun, as it happened, as Maria was indeed the first of the two to come, crying out Frank's name as he did. He came not long after her, releasing as fast as he could. The Quinjet seemed to turn on its side, and then return to its normal state. Frank was satisfied; these little "sessions" had helped greatly to get rid of the self-diagnosed PTSD Frank had been hit with from Wanda's inflicted visions during the Ultron Crisis.

Maria thought a lot of people had Frank figured out wrong. He was arguably the second greatest thing to come into her life after SHIELD. She rubbed her hands in her face, and then went to slip on her jumpsuit. "Glad to get that out of the way."

"So am I," said Frank, smiling stupidly. "What's next on the Punisher agenda? What foreign country am I going to fuck up now?"

"Actually, you're getting a small leave," said Maria, back in her suit – as well as her business attitude.

"What for?"

"Well, aside from the fact you deserve some off time, there's a big meeting the Avengers are having with some of the not so friendly politicians. Steve and Nick are insisting on this press conference to deal with public distrust of powered people."

"And neither of us belong to that category," replied Frank.

"True, but a lot of others do." She looked out the pilot's window; the old Stark Industries complex turned Avengers stronghold was in view. "Some of which, for example, are highly concerned that Wanda Maximoff isn't an American citizen."

Frank still had his reservations about Wanda, but for the most part he trusted her again. And trust was hard for Frank Castle.

"Does it really matter?" asked Frank. "The Avengers have diplomatic immunity. That means no one should give two shits."

"Should and will are two entirely different things. A good percent of the world's population blames us for what happened in Sokovia. They fear it could happen to them."

"Well," began Frank as the Quinjet began lowering itself to the ground, "in any case, I'll be sticking around for the press conference. Should be fun to watch Rogers and ex-Governor Kubrick go at it." As the door opened, Frank and Maria were greeted by Natasha. Which was odd, because it was usually Steve Rogers getting updates from them.

You know, being team leader and all.

"Where's Steve?" asked Maria. Steve was known to stick to a strict schedule that was rarely broken.

"He's in his room," said Natasha. "Peggy Carter passed away last night. He just learned a couple of hours ago."

"Oh," replied Maria, any cheerfulness in her reduced to ashes. Peggy Carter had been a legend in SHIELD, and no one had ever told her about HYDRA's reappearance, for fear of breaking her heart or soul. Maria was glad she died not having to know that.

"Shit," replied Frank, which was his M.O. of reacting to overall bad news. He leaned in Maria's ear and whispered "I kind of feel bad for… you know."

"Don't be," was her reply. "I'm going to check on him. You go and get cleaned up." While Frank and Natasha headed off to the armory, Maria crossed through the hangar bay. It was still being repaired from damages done by some AIM terrorists from a few months back, but for the most part it was getting fixed up nicely. Maria found Steve in his room. Staring blankly in his lap and his eyes closed, he looked like a devout pastor at prayer.

"Hey," she said to him. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you."

"No," said Steve. She could tell he was fighting to contain sobs.

"I'm sorry about Peggy," Maria told him empathetically. "I know how much she meant to you." She sat down on the bed next to Steve.

"She was the last link to the old life I once had," Steve whimpered. "And now she's gone. I'm a ninety something year old trapped in the body of a thirty year old man. I feel so out of place…"

"You're not out of place," Maria retorted, putting a caring arm around him. "You've adapted to this new world. You're still a hero to millions of people. That means something."

"I know, I know." Steve was very unsure of himself, looking aimlessly. "It's just… you see everyone you know die or turn on you or something, and you just can't help but think: am I alone in all this? Am I destined to be the man out of time?"

"I don't know," said Maria, thinking to herself, "but I do know that Peggy wouldn't want you to cry over her too much. She'd want you to be the best man you can. Wanda, too."

Those words seemed to help. Steve got out of the bed, washed his face in the sink in an adjacent bathroom, and exhumed loudly. "I guess so." He then walked out quickly, not saying where he was going.

Maria was satisfied. She'd help calm Captain America's nerves during a difficult time, and it couldn't be a bad thing.

* * *

The funeral for Peggy Carter took place a week later. All of the Avengers and staff attended, along with Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and most of Peggy's family, including Sharon Carter, her great niece. Peggy had been an inspiration to Sharon as a child, and her presence among the more "valuable" guests seemed to indicate that she'd had a hand in preparation.

The funeral service took place in the massive Washington National Cathedral. Usually reserved for politicians and wealthy locals, Stark had pulled some strings to get the funeral service of a family friend held here. After the local bishop said a few words, Steve got up to the podium and began talking.

He talked about how he first met Margaret "Peggy" Carter, and how she believed in him when few others did. He talked about her fierce will, which was something uncommon for a woman in the 1940s but much admired after the war. He talked about how she dedicated her life to SHIELD, and how she made it the best it could be, HYDRA infiltration notwithstanding.

Then he chose to speak about her in his own light.

"I saw Peggy as someone who always had the odds stacked against her, sort of like me. It would have been easy to just settle down into her married life and focus on raising her kids the best she could. No one would have blamed her.

"Instead, she chose to continue doing what she did best, even if I wasn't her to see it happen. She had a vision for SHIELD and she set out to make it a shining beacon force for good in the world, even if HYDRA didn't want it too. She did a lot of it by sticking to her guns and her iron will, but also by seeking compromise and common cause -not through deal-making and negotiation alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor.

"Peggy is, to me, still around us. She remains in our hearts and souls. We mourn for her because we loved this kind-hearted and strong woman who persevered through misogyny and discrimination- not for self-interest and personal power, but only for the people she cared about and the causes she devoted herself to.

"I know she will be greatly missed by everyone who knew and loved her. A light on this earth may have gone out, but we still have the precious memory of how brightly it burned, and the warmth it gave us all."

With that being said, Steve stepped down from the podium and thus began the procession to the burial site, located on the cemetery ground that the Carter family had reserved for themselves. Steve, Tony, two of Peggy's adult sons, Sharon's father, and Clint Barton (who'd come from his secluded home to make the funeral) served as pallbearers, taking the coffin to the waiting hearse.

* * *

Twenty minutes, later, with Peggy Carter laid to rest, the guests were dispersing. Frank and Maria made small talk with Clint, who was showing everyone pictures of Nathaniel Barton from his phone. Steve and Wanda were holding hands, walking back to a waiting car. Sharon stopped them. "Steve?"

"Yes, neighbor?"

Sharon rolled her eyes and grinned. "Are you ever going to forgive me for that?"

"I don't know, but I don't hold grudges."

"Good. I'm so sorry about all this, by the way. I can't imagine what you must be feeling."

"Don't worry about me Sharon, worry about yourself. You look like you haven't gotten any sleep in days."

"Between running this funeral and CIA business, I don't really get the time for sleep." Sharon's gaze moved towards Wanda. "Who's this?"

"Sharon, this is Wanda," he said to her, introducing the two women to each other. "She's been helping us upstate, and she's been doing great."

"And how long have you two been together?" asked a curious Sharon. Steve became red faced, while Wanda just giggled.

"Don't be embarrassed Steve, I can read people's relationships pretty good." They made some more small talk, and them Sharon found who she was really looking for: Maria Hill. She found her with Frank Castle not too far away.

"Maria," she called, getting Hill's attention. Frank followed suit. "There you are, I was wondering where you were this whole time."

"I'm everywhere, stupid," Maria said playfully, giving the younger woman a hug. "This is my top field agent. For simplicity's sake, let's call him-"

"Frank Castle. I'm aware. Fury doesn't do much espionage these days."

Maria began to open her mouth, but Sharon then said, "Don't worry about it, my lips are sealed about you two. Now, did you want an update on Rollins?'

"Yes I did. How many of his teeth have been extracted yet?"

Sharon smiled. "We'll go there, but only if it's absolutely necessary-"

"Torture him," Frank snapped.

"Um, I didn't ask for your input-"

"Torture him." Frank raised his voice, but only slightly. Still, there was that sting of indignation in it.

"Frank," said Maria, "that's not what we're here to discuss. Sharon, you do what you deem best to get information out of Rollins."

"Yeah, about that," Sharon nudged for them to walk with her to a more secluded location among the trees. "We think Rollins was getting help from Citizen V for his activities."

Citizen V was an anonymous social activist/anarchist who'd been on the airwaves and Youtube channels for the last eight months. He'd been spewing stuff that was anti-Avenger, anti-government, anti-everything, really. He'd also claimed a lot of responsibility for several high profile acts of destruction over that time, including the explosion at Pym Technologies headquarters in San Francisco.

"Well, shit," said Frank.

"Exactly. I don't have all the details, but I will later. I'll be in touch."

As Sharon walked off, Maria jabbed Frank in the ribs. "That was rude."

"What? I was giving her sound advice."

"She just lost her role model in life. Just… watch your mouth."

Frank groaned. "You know how difficult that sounds?"

"Well, start trying. There's a major public appearance at that debate, so you might want to try."

"Whatever you say."

 


	4. Laying Groundwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I feel a little scummy posting a chapter containing a terrorist attack on 9/11, but those things happen. Be sure to thank your local emergency personal and call up your family and loved ones because you never know what might happen.
> 
> In other writing news, my head is spinning around two other ideas I had. One is non-Marvel, and is more "alternate history" based (if you know what that is). It'll probably go on Fictionpress (and Ao3) if I ever get around to doing it. The other is a shorter piece than what I normally write, but the plot bunnies are fighting me for details.
> 
> Anyways, that's enough of that. If you haven't reviewed yet, I highly encourage you to do so. You really don't know how much writers love reading feedback and comments.

_Berlin_

Helmut Zemo studied his chess board for a moment. It was in a position that resembled his current predicament. It was somewhere beyond the Queen's Gambit, where a pawn is sacrificed to further a player's chances of winning.

He felt exactly that way with his personal plan. Zemo picked up a secure phone, dialed in a foreign number, and waited for three beeps. Then a voice came over.

"Good evening."

"Good morning." Zemo was speaking to a person in a far different time zone. "This call serves as your go-ahead to initiate your portion of Plan Omega."

"Will do."

"How long until the initial action?"

"The physical asset you gave me has been reprogrammed to my liking. Of course, I already had vast knowledge of the said asset. He's on the way to where you want him, along with my handlers. My inside man will keep me updated on the reaction of our adversaries in America."

"And you will keep me updated here in Berlin."

"Baron Zemo?"

"Go ahead."

"I must remind you again that once initiated, key elements of Plan Omega are irreversible."

Zemo smiled to himself. "I am  _relying_ on the irreversible course of action to achieve our goals. Remember, we're in this together. Once the initial action is undertaken, tell the rest of your men to start preparing. Events will speed up quickly afterwards."

The phone went dead. Zemo wasn't surprised; Lukin was never one for small talk.

* * *

_Houston, Texas_

The debate was taking place in Texas, a state currently run by people that didn't have exactly the best of views towards the Avengers. At best, they saw them as well intentioned but having numerous negative consequences. At worst, they saw them as self-interested vigilantes that did nothing more than be celebrities on the scale of the Kardashians.

 _We may be the most powerful force for good on this planet, and yet people still want us on stakes._ Steve Rogers thought solemnly to himself as he read the opinion article a prominent Fox News anchor had written for Time Magazine. Wanda had shown him the article, and they were both disgusted by it. They wished people would stop attacking those who were only trying to help.

Oh well. To each his or her own. He kept that in mind as the Avengers got out of their limo and into the metaphorical fire that was called paparazzi.

The idea had been Fury's, as he wanted to let the Avengers to take on their detractors and critics in a way that would be seen by millions of people nationwide. With the next presidential election just around the corner, a number of leading candidates from both parties were coming to hone their debating skills against the Avengers. In addition, there was going to be surprise appearance from Ryan Kubrick, the former territorial governor of Puerto Rico. Kubrick was known as a warhawk that advocated swift and decisive action against any enemy of the United States, whether it was superpowered people or the Russian Federation.

Steve and Wanda silently held hands as they made their way towards the huge open air podium where the debate was taking place. A bunch of the crowd was asking questions about Steve and Wanda's relationship, as well as their opinions on Sokovia and the attacks on the base by AIM a while back. There were also questions about Vision's supposed immorality, as well as the technology that Rhodes and Wilson used.

In another section of the open air podium, Frank, Maria, and a local police chief were going over the security detail together. The local police had volunteered a handful of units, but they weren't really prepared to handle a big threat if need be. Therefore, it fell to the three of them to make sure what police were here did exactly as they said.

"..and then there should be a SWAT team arriving in any minute now," said Maria, looking annoyed. "You know anything about that?"

"I sure as hell don't," replied the cranky policeman coldly. "I just do jobs here. The museum district has hardly had a robbery in months. This is extra work for most of those men."

Maria smiled falsely. "Okay. Frank, keep an eye out for the SWAT. Security needs to be tight here."

"Right." Frank, dressed in his trench coat rather than his regular set of gear, looked and felt more like just another reporter than a lone wolf operator. He began jogging to where CNN and Fox News cameramen were setting up, and telling them where to move their stuff to.

The open air theater in the middle of Herman Park had been hastily been converted into a national debate forum. Six candidates from both parties sat at one end of the theater. The six Avengers, dressed as they usually were, sat in the other end. The press was lined up and ready to record the entire thing to millions of people worldwide.

Soon enough, the debate was underway. One of the Democratic candidates, the Governor of Maryland, began asking about Wanda Maximoff and her involvement in the Ultron Crisis.

"Wanda Maximoff, it's not really a secret that you and your twin brother were instrumental in assisting the AI known as Ultron before the whole disaster in Sokovia. While many of us are indeed grateful for your assistance in Sokovia, and send our condolences regarding your brother, the fact that you assisted an enemy of not only the United States, but the whole world, remains. Is your assistance of Captain Rogers' new Avengers a way of sorts to redeem yourself to the world?"

Wanda needed a good drink of water before answering. She was clearly anticipating this sort of thing.

"Yes, you could say that. I believe in second chances just as much as the next person, and I'm grateful that Steve did. But it's more than that. It's about gathering the people with the abilities to make the most difference in the world, and using them as a force for the betterment of the world. I think all of us here can agree on that part."

She meant it. Her time with the rest of the team had consolidated her belief that specialized groups of people with powers, where inexperienced novices like her could train with veterans, was the best option on how to deal with superheroes and other "enhanced" people.

A Senator from Kentucky was next in line to speak. "Miss Maximoff, this country has seen this sort of thing before. When the world learned that HYDRA was infested in SHIELD for six decades and the whole thing was rooted out, many of us, myself included, thought that we should imprison everyone, SHIELD or HYDRA, that was breaking our laws. Including, I might add, Miss Romanoff here. And I am still in support of detaining anyone who's done this sort of thing."

"Senator," cut in Natasha, who usually went on the defensive about her past activities, "I've spoken on this matter numerous times. Maybe Wanda did some bad things that don't deserve praise, and so did I. But we're still the people best suited to defending the world from whatever dangers there may be. We're your friends, not your enemies."

Frank left the audience after just five minutes. Politics bored him to death. Besides, both parties were rice people clubs. They didn't care about the little guys on the bottom, and pretended to for the sake of getting elected. He needed something better to do. So he took a walk in the mostly empty public park.

He had just finished making another walk around when the closed public restrooms caught his eye. He found it odd that it would be closed, so he took a quick peek.

_What the…_

He wasn't a hundred percent sure, but it looked like there was a body lying on the bathroom floor. Quickly cutting the "closed" yellow tape, he walked inside to find, indeed, a dead body. He'd been shot in the head and was wearing a police uniform. Knowing this wasn't a good sign by any means, Frank checked the stalls. Sure enough, there was another man in each stall, each one tied up and with duct tape over his mouth.

Frank tossed a mental coin, then chose a man and ripped off the duct tape. "What happened?"

"W-w-what?"

"What happened to get you in your current predicament?"

The man gathered himself. "They ambushed us. Killed Derek over there. They told us that they wouldn't kill any more of us if-"

The door to the bathroom swung open. A man in nondescript gray clothing walked in, holding AK-74 submachine gun in hand, came in and began yelling in an Eastern European language. When he saw Frank, he aimed his weapon at Castle.

Frank wasted no time. As soon as the Russian began yelling again, Frank swung with a hard kick, knocking the weapon out of the man's hands. The man, undeterred, attempted to punch Frank. His response was grab the Russian's arm and throw him across the room. When Frank ran over the check on him, he was knocked out cold.

 _No answers now._ Frank called Maria on his cell phone. "We've got a situation over here."

"Explain."

"I've got a bunch of dead and tied up policemen, along with a suspicious looking Russian man that's been knocked out cold." He explained.

"Odd. I'll be on my way there."

* * *

"Captain Rogers?" The commentator for the debate was asking his own questions now. "There's been a lot of debate over the last few months over the status of the Avengers in terms of international law. Some people think that you and your allies have too much ability to yourselves. What do you have to say to that?"

Steve crossed his arms. "We're here to help, but it has to be on our terms. We prefer that we have these loopholes apply to us because it, frankly, makes things easier. If we were getting crossed up in airport paperwork every time we had to go to a foreign country, how would we get anything done? It's best that things remain the way they are."

"So Captain Rogers," asked Kubrick, "what about a registration act? It's been in debate in both houses of Congress, as well as the EU. Do you think it would be fair or commonsense for registration of all so-called superpowered people?"

"No, I do not think so. I may be front page news, but I can't say the same for each and every person one might call superpowered. Many of them, scattered throughout the world, have lives and families that they're just trying to keep safe while they do their jobs. It would be unfair for them to blow their covers for the sake of government regulation. In case you haven't noticed, HYDRA tried to do the same think, and it cost us SHIELD."

"That was different," said Kubrick, keeping the pressure on. "Congress and the European Union are not ex-Nazi organizations. They're legitimate governing bodies."

"And like any governments, they're susceptible to the corruption of power."

"Captain Rogers, what if there were polls that showed that nearly two thirds of citizens supported a registration act? Hulk attacks, robots leveling European cities, rumors of shrinking men and giant bugs causing havoc in San Francisco – you can't blame them. You're a living symbol of the United States of America. Wouldn't you go along with a sensible notion that the majority of Americans support?'

Steve needed to stand up for his next reply.

"It doesn't matter what anyone says. It doesn't matter if the entire world thinks one thing and I'm the only one that disagrees with it. America was founded on one principle above all else: the requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the politicians and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — no,  _you_  move. And that being said, I'm against registration even if everyone in this crowd wants me to. If you want to hate me for it, go ahead. I have freedom of speech, and I'll keep protecting the innocent like I always do."

Almost as if dropping a microphone, Steve sat back down, the rest of his team looking at him with awe. The same with for the politicians on the other side, save Kubrick, who kept his stone stare.

* * *

"How long have these guys been here?" asked Maria. She helped Frank to get the remaining officers up and back on their feet.

"I don't know," said Frank, who was scavenging the unconscious Russian for any ammo. "I'd have the rest of the police on the highest alert. We don't know what's going on in here."

"Agreed. Did you just here what Steve said, by the way?"

"What did he say?" Frank still wasn't that interested.

"He said he'd never support a registration act of any kind for superpowered people. Absurd, right?"

"Well, he did stop HYDRA from trying to do the exact same thing."

"That's different, Frank, and you know it. The governments of the world aren't terrorist organizations."

"Well, depending on who you ask, that's not-"

Frank couldn't finish, mostly due to the fact that a tremendous explosion had just taken out the front entrance to the museum down the block. Frank looked around, scanned the area, and saw that nothing else seemed off…

Until a trio of black Humvees drove up, screeching tires all along the way.

Men got out of every door of the vehicles, about twenty in total. All of them were armed with state of the art automatic weapons. Some began firing on the streets, gunning down any person that appeared to be a potential threat. Others launched smoke grenades, engulfing the street and crowd with dense white smoke. Frank noticed that they also spoke Russian as they attacked. "Maria, we need to get to the people on that podium. That's who they're after, or at least I think so."

"One question, though," she said while reloading her own gun. "How?"

* * *

Steve knew a terrorist attack when he saw one. The explosion across the street and the subsequent men firing on the crowd sent the message clear enough. "Avengers, let's get to work!" Steve shouted his commands as everyone ran in every direction, trying to get cover. The smokescreen was making finding the bay guys difficult.

"Yo Steve," shouted Sam as the two of them ducked for cover, "how the hell do you want us to fight when all our stuff's in the buses?"

 _Damnit._ "Where's Vision? Someone tell me he's up and about?"

"Dunno man, I think he went to grab some people and take them to safety."

"Alright then. Let's get to the-"

A sniper's bullet slammed into the wood wall directly above Steve's head. This was a sign for him to get out of his hiding place and seek another cover area. He found Kubrick crouching to his left. Steve went towards him. "Sir, we need to get you out of here."

"Sure, whatever you say-"

There was a single pop sound, and Kubrick went limp, his head snapping back towards Steve's arm. That wasn't a mistake, Steve realized instantly. Kubrick had to have been one of the targets of these terrorists. Now that he had an idea of where the sniper was firing from, Steve looked in that direction, the smoke finally clearing.

Standing on one of the Humvees, holding a Dragonov SVDS sniper rifle, dressed in black leather, face covered by tactical goggles and mask, and holding his rifle with a metal arm, was  _him_.

James Buchannan Barnes. The Winter Soldier.


	5. Storm Winds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back. The CNN debate where all the Republicans were talking about how to deal with Russia kind of feeds into this chapter.

Steve couldn't believe his eyes. Bucky was here and back in the brainwashed Winter Soldier persona. His attempts to find Bucky and track him down thus far had all been for naught. And now, here he was, in the flesh.

Except this was far from the location Steve wanted to find his former best friend in. As Bucky jumped down from the Humvee and walked towards the terrified crowd, Steve was finding himself thinking about an impossible choice.  _Do I try to save him again, or will I have to put him down once and for all?_ It was an impossible choice for Steve.

A police officer attempted to raise his pistol and Bucky and tell him to stand down. Bucky easily dodged any bullets and grabbed the officer by the throat with his metal arm. The officer was unable to do anything as he was choked to death, then tossed aside like a garbage can.

Without any weapons or his shield, Steve knew the first priority was to get armed. One of the henchmen came forward holding a machine pistol. Steve quickly kicked him, grabbed the weapon out of his hands, and then pistol whipped the Russian, making him fall the podium floor dead. Steve then got up and pointed the weapon at Bucky.

"Bucky," said Steve desperately, "Listen to me. Whoever or whatever made you do this, you can fight it. It's not you that's-"

Bucky's reply was to swing his rifle at Steve like a club. He dodged it, only to get a punch from the metal arm. As Steve went down, Bucky jumped on top of him and attempted to punch Steve again. Steve put both of his hands on the metal arm, and it took a considerable amount of energy to keep it from connecting with Steve's face.

"Snap out of it!" Steve had (sort of) freed Bucky from his brainwashing once, he hoped to do it again.

Bucky's response was to press down harder. Then a series of bullets pinged off the metal arm. It was Natasha, who'd gotten herself a gun and was hoping to take some of the steam off Rogers.

Bucky dropped Steve, muttered " _сука_ " and marched himself towards Natasha, who was distracted gunning down Bucky's henchmen. Steve took the opportunity to grab Bucky from the back and try to pin him to the ground. "Natasha, get me my shield!"

"Trying, Cap! There's a lot of bad guys and this smoke isn't going away any quicker!"

"Then make it work!" It took even more of Steve's energy to keep Bucky pinned down to the ground, while more police engaged the Russians scattered throughout the area. Bucky squirmed and struggled to get out of the lock Steve Rogers had put him in.

* * *

"Move." Frank and Maria crossed the street under the cover of wrecked and abandoned cars, trying to get closer to the turmoil. They fired at any bad guys that happened to get in the way. They stopped to take a brief break, crouched behind a park bench.

"Maria," he told her, "you move when I move, and shoot when I shoot-"

"In case you haven't forgotten I can hold my own quite well."

"Don't tell me what to do. And keep yourself alive."

Frank nodded and got up, firing as he made his way through another thick patch of smoke. He shot one terrorist and fired at another as he found a wounded civilian that needed some dire medical attention. He dragged the civilian to a more secluded area as Maria covered him.

"Stay with me," said Frank as he attempted to get the civilian back to consciousness. It wasn't working. "Damnit!"

"We can't save everyone," replied Maria hurriedly as the civilian passed out, weak but alive. "We have to eliminate the threats and deal with the consequences later."

Frank didn't like the idea of that, but he knew Maria was right. The longer those terrorists kept firing, the more causalities were bound to happen. As he moved on, he noticed Wanda putting up a telepathic force field to defend herself and deflect bullets. To his right, he found Rhodey fist fighting another Russian, and losing the brawl. Frank shot the Russian in the back and then checked on Rhodey. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine… Where's everyone else?"

"We're working on that," replied Maria as they ran together to where Steve and the Winter Soldier were fighting each other yet again, brawling as only super soldiers could. Bucky had grabbed Steve with his metal arm and twisted him enough to get Steve off of him. Staring though his dark tactical goggles, Bucky kicked Steve and pulled out a pistol from his waistband. He was about to shoot when a hail of wildly inaccurate bullets went just about his head.

"Hey! Get the fuck down!"

Frank had hoped he could get this Bucky's attention away from Steve Rogers. He knew that Rogers and Bucky were old childhood friends, and that Steve had a soft spot for him all this time. He just hoped that Steve had the balls to do what was necessary at the time. Whoever this assassin was, it wasn't James Barnes anymore.

As Bucky slowly raised his pistol at Maria and Frank, Steve got back up and scooped Bucky in his arm. He then threw his former best friend across the width of the podium. The fall hit Bucky on the head and he struggled to get up. As Steve went to his side, Frank aimed his AK-74 at his head.

"I hope you're gonna do what needs to be done," said Frank unapologetically. "If you don't do it, I will."

Steve stared the Punisher hard for a minute, then slammed Bucky's head against the concrete. It didn't kill him, but it knocked him unconscious for the time being.

"You see, Frank?" asked Steve. "You don't have to kill every time to solve your problems."

"You'll regret it when he wakes up," muttered Frank to himself as he fired the AK-74 at the surviving terrorists. As Steve and Frank dragged Bucky's unconscious body away from the fray, they noticed that the bad guys (or who was left of them) were beginning to fall back towards their Humvees.

"They're pulling back," said Maria as more police arrived at their end. She noticed that the bad guys were all putting on some kind of headset on their ears.

Two of the men got on top of one of the Humvees and began putting together what appeared to be a miniaturized active denial system (ADS). Usually used in crowd control situations, the ADS used electromagnetic radiation to disperse rioters, making them feel as if they were being burned alive.

 _That's odd,_ she thought.  _Why would they use a non-lethal weapon?_ Then the ADS was aimed at where Wanda Maximoff was at.

_Shit._

"Steve, you need to get Wanda out of there. If she's exposed to that kind of radiation, there's-"

Her words were disrupted by a sudden sensation of feeling like she was being burned alive. Maria watched Frank reel on the ground, hit by the same electromagnetic radiation, and saw Rhodey doing the same. Natasha attempted to move up with a gun raised, but was unable to. Steve Rogers was the only person able to move well at all, and even that wasn't saying much. He crawled to Wanda, attempting to get to her before she got hit hard enough.

Even Vision was having a hard time shifting his molecules in and out to avoid any potential harmful effects of the radiation. Civilians, meanwhile, just thrashed around, unable to do much to avoid the heat ray that was burning them on the inside.

When Wanda was hit by the radiation, it felt like a splitting headache combined with a massive fever rushing though her entire body. She couldn't do anything but sink to her knees, destroying the force field she had set up and sending it flying, hitting anyone that happened to be in the way. Terrorists and civilians alike were thrown aside, and not in a good way. Wanda put her hands to her ears, attempting to stop whatever was invisibly hitting her, but to no avail.

"Wanda!" Steve was struggling to get closer to Wanda, to get her out of there. "Wanda, we need to-"

She cried out an intangible scream, one that could have shook the heavens if she tried. Then a massive red hex flew from her and towards the Humvee with the ADS, passing through and killing anyone and anything in its way. Terrorist or civilian, it didn't care. The Humvee was sent flying off the street and into the already damaged museum. Steel beams and dinosaur bones were sent flying from the trajectory, causing the foundation to collapse and crush anyone unlucky enough to be caught below

But it didn't end there. The force of the hex kept the Humvee going, and it would plough through a high rise apartment, another museum, and a church. Each building suffered the same kind of damage the museum did, leaving gaping holes and innocent causalities. Finally the Humvee crashed in a parking lot, crushing a car with people inside. Not to mention everyone it the path of destruction.

As soon as that was done, Wanda began hyperventilating, gasping for air. Steve, no longer stuck with radiation attempting to fry him alive, rushed to her side. "Wanda!"

Her eyes were open, but had a look of fatality to them. And Steve could see why: the surviving people around them were recovering and looking at Wanda in horror. They'd no doubt heard the rumors about Sokovia, about a girl that could lift things and mess with people's minds, but now they'd seen some of that first hand, and with disastrous effects. The genie had been let loose from the lamp, and it was terrifying to behold.

Steve heard things such as "horrific" and "someone should lock her up" being said by the survivors. Those with enough strength to get out of the rubble and help others trapped in debris, that was. He called for Sam to get Wanda somewhere safe while he did what he could to help people that needed it. He noticed that a lot of them carried a look of disgust on their faces.

And he couldn't blame them. He just hoped that the fallout wasn't going to be that bad.

Twenty yards away, Frank was thinking the exact same thing. He and Maria were just looking at the devastation that had been poured out onto the Museum district. He would have guessed hundreds dead.

A storm was coming.

Frank was curious about something that the Ak-74 did. It seemed to penetrate anything it fired at with relative ease. He took out the magazine and extracted a bullet. He then scratched the bullet against some concrete. As he expected, the concrete now had a scratch.

_Not your typical lead ammo._

* * *

Yuri and Boris weren't expecting for their Humvee to be sent flying by the Scarlet Witch. But it did, and now they needed a ride out of here. Fortunately for them, one of the other Humvees was unscathed, and its driver was dead, so who would miss them?

"What a shitstorm," Yuri cursed in Russian as Boris drove at nearly ninety miles an hour, sideswiping several cars as they went onto I 10, headed west.

"You mean the ADS blowing up?" asked Boris.

"Yes, I meant that. Don't you know how much we spent-"

"I know, I know. But I think it's a blessing in disguise. Guess why."

Yuri thought for a moment. "Everyone saw what happened when Wanda Maximoff lost her mind."

"Exactly. We were sent to cause as much damage with Зимний Солдат as we could. What happened was a stroke of luck."

Boris turned on the car radio. "…and reports of a metal man strangling police officers and assassinating former governor Kubrick from fifty feet away are spreading like wildfire…"

"That's just the kind of thing we need," muttered Boris as the radio announcer went on about how a Humvee was thrown through several buildings. "When they see the footage of a metal armed man killing policemen, and a woman who can levitate vehicles to deadly effect, all of America will want war."

"They better," said Yuri.

* * *

"What the hell happened?" asked Fury in his usual angry demeanor over videocam. Ghost and Fury were on one side; Steve and Maria on the other. The Avengers had regrouped to begin rescue efforts, but it had been hampered by the fact that Wanda was indirectly responsible for most of the destruction.

"I don't know," replied Steve, although not very convincingly. "Someone must have gotten ahold of Bucky and reprogrammed him to attack the debate." Bucky himself was being held in a holding bay of their Quinjet, and was hooked up to tranquilizers to be safe.

"He killed a presidential candidate. And his men caused massive destruction over an area of Houston. Do you know what that means?"

"Fury, I highly doubt the United States is going to pass registration over one act of-"

"This isn't just one act, Captain Rogers," cut in Maria. "This is the latest of a long string of superhuman related incidents. Especially with all those SHIELD files Natasha leaked. People are far more aware of superhumans and what they are capable of than in 2012."

"Have either of you seen the news from up here?" asked Ghost. He pulled an iPad to show them. "Everyone can clearly see a man with a metal arm choking police officers and shooting down nearly a dozen civilians by himself. The American public isn't going to let this go off lightly. They will want answers. Any idea who the hired guns were?"

"No," said Rogers, "but it sounded like they were Russian."

 _Russian._ Maria knew that Russia was being a thorn in America's side for some time now. First Ukraine, then Syria, then Greece and Sokovia. Each of those situation was handily exploited by the Russian government to further their aims in world politics. The US had protested, and had gotten the UN to pass another set of embargoes on Russia, sending the value of the ruble down again. Could this attack be retaliation of some kind? Kubrick was a war hawk, and the Winter Soldier had started out as a Soviet program. Could they have found the trick to get him under their control again?

Maria's mind was still racing scenarios when Frank came in and dropped a handful of bullets on the counter. "Parabellum rounds. Look ordinary on the outside. But they're not, and I need to test something. Steve, do you have your shield with you yet?"

"Yeah." Steve had finally retrieved his shield after the battle, and after he'd done all he could to assist the civilians trapped in various buildings. More emergency personal were pouring in. He handed the shield to Frank.

"Lemme see that." Frank took one of the bullets and, seemingly without any effort, made a small, one inch scratch on the shield. Everyone expect Frank looked stunned.

"That's what I thought. These bullets are made of vibranium. Alone, it wouldn't even put a dent in the shield. In large numbers, however…"

Frank trailed off, but he didn't need to finish that statement. "All of these bullets are vibranium, and I'm willing there's more of this stuff outside on the dead bodies. Ghost, can you track the serial number on this gun?" He put the customized AK-74 on the counter so that Fury and Ghost could see the serial number.

"Give me about an hour, maybe less, and I'll have it."

"Good." Frank turned to Steve. "You may want to check on Miss Maximoff. She's stable for now, but she could go off-"

"I know Frank," said Steve with utter conviction. Leaving Maria and Frank to themselves, Steve walked out to where Wanda was recuperating. She was sitting on a small hill, staring at passerbys who were whispering things. She knew what they were saying, but didn't have the willpower to do anything about it.

Steve sat down beside her. "It wasn't your fault," was all he said.

She looked at him worriedly. 'What will happen to me? I can't even keep myself from…" She waved around the area, debris on all sides. "…this. No one will trust me anymore. They'll want me locked in a cell-"

"Don't say that.  _I_  definitely don't want you locked up anywhere."

"That's different. People have seen me at my worst." Technically, she'd been at her worst in Sokovia. But that was thousands of miles in the sky, distanced from the news cameras and the politicians. She'd just caused maybe a hundred or so deaths in a major American city. This  _was_  different.

Steve held her Wanda's shoulder more forcefully. " _I've_ seen you at your worst. And I'm not giving up on you. Because, deep down, you're a good person, and good people shouldn't be going to jail for things beyond their control."

"Tell that to them," said Wanda, nodding towards a woman watching her son being put in a hospital stretcher and driven down to the medical center.

"It'll take some time," said Steve. "but people will know we're not the enemy." He pointed at several of the dead terrorists, whom the FBI was already going through the bodies for any clues. "They are."

"And that begs the question: who are they?"

* * *

"Gotta match," said Ghost on the videocam forty five minutes later. "All the vibranium in the world comes from Wakanda, of course, so tracing the serial number was a walk in the park. According to this, your gun was produced by some nasty pieces of work involved in the illegal mining business in the Chalbi Desert." The faces of two black men popped up.

"They look familiar," said Maria.

"That's because they are," said Fury. "Amare and Lekan Aguda. Brothers, worked their way to the top of Africa's most wanted list. Everything in Wakanda that can be on the black market, they've got it. I'll bet you ten bucks that they supplied the attack."

Frank held one of the bullets in his hands, thinking. "One rare metal to unleash the rage of a whole nation."

"Which means…"

"They're our tickets to the true perpetrators."


	6. Visit Sunny Wakanda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. Due to my college commitments I'm not exactly sure when I'll post the next chapter. For now just read and enjoy this one. Do comment or let me know what you thought in some way. It would brighten my day!

The team would split up. Steve would take Wanda, Frank, and Sam with him to Wakanda to investigate the Modaki brothers, while the others would fly back to base and attempt to deal with the inevitable fallout that was bound to happen. Steve insisted (to the dismay of Fury) that Bucky be brought to Africa so that he could keep an eye on him. He was on a steady stream of tranquilizers, so there wasn't any apparent danger, Steve thought. Ghost was also headed to Wakanda, on Fury's orders.

The flight to Africa was a slow one. Which made sense, considering it wasn't the Quinjet but rather a C-130. It had been loaned from Coulson and his people, and was piloted by an agent named Bobbi Morse.

Frank checked up with Maria for updates. "What's the situation in Washington?" It had been ten hours since the last of the mess in Houston had been cleaned up.

"Both houses of Congress are in emergency session. Whatever they're voting on, it's going to be near unanimous at the very least."

"Registration and war, I presume."

She nodded through the iPad. "Against who, that's another matter in and of itself. President Ellis is scheduled to talk to the nation at noon. My time, not yours, wherever in the Atlantic you are."

"And people are going to be wondering what Captain America is doing in Africa when America needs him the most-"

"Let me remind you that you and Steve are going to try and find the root cause of this mess. Get Steve for me."

Frank nudged Steve to come over and watch.

"Cap," began Maria, "whether you like it or not, registration is coming, there's no way around it. The most we can do is attempt to find those responsible for the deaths and bring them to justice. I also want to say, yet again, that hiding your both friend and Wanda from the Justice Department is a very stupid decision."

"I don't care if the events from yesterday change everyone's minds."

"Steve, people saw on live television what Bucky and Wanda are capable of. You know I'm not lying when I say that both of them are potential threats."

"Potential threats. Wasn't that the term HYDRA used to tag you, me, and the rest of the team?"

"Your beliefs won't change with the times, Cap?"

Steve shook his head. He and Maria were friends, but his principles were being tested. Not today. "No, I'm sticking what I know and believe in. And I have my reasons for taking Wanda and Bucky with me. I don't want either of them falling in the wrong hands again, and a registration act would lead to just that."

"The government's trying to help-"

"And governments are fallible. I'll contact you when we're in Africa." He was about to press the power button off when Maria began to speak again.

"Stark's here at base. He was here before us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Frank.

"I don't know. But he brought Dean Rusk along, and they've been talking to Rhodey and some kid named Peter Parker in a private room, and I have a meeting with him in an hour. Remember, he's still my boss."

Stark bringing himself back to base was notable. Very notable. After unofficially leaving the team, Tony Stark had mostly gone out of the superhero business, focusing on charities and designing some non-weaponized suits for various clients. Whenever he'd needed to communicate with the Avengers, it had always been via videocam or Maria herself. If he was at base for a personal visit, it had to be something serious.

Same went for Dean Rusk. Rusk was a hardliner in a presidential cabinet of moderates, and he would always be the first to push new and controversial legislation, including a potential registration act. As for the kid, Steve had no clue.

"Right." Frank walked off, while Steve walked up next to Wanda. She was staring at Bucky's unconscious body, laying in a medical chair with tubes goingin his nose and several blood vessels. Every other second the heartbeat monitor beeped, showing that Bucky was in relatively stable condition. Just to be safe, the metal arm was clamped down with vibranium clamps.

"How long will he be like this, Steve?"

"I don't know, Wanda. Whatever those men did to him, he'll need time to shake it off. Best he do it sleeping that trying to kill us."

"I'm sorry for him. Falling off a train and losing an arm, only to be a pawn in a global scheme."

"I feel sorry for him every day," said Steve. "Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had saved him, of the life he might have lived without being indebted to HYDRA for sixty years."

"You don't, Steve. It's all been said and done, and there's nothing that can change it. Like Peggy."

"Peggy was different. She lived a full life. Bucky's been through hell and worse."

"Frank says you have a soft spot for him. Is that why?" Wanda wasn't sure why she was asking the question (she already knew the answers) but she needed to hear Steve say it.

"Not just that, I care about him because he was my best friend since childhood. We have a strong bond that's really not describable to most people."

"I'm not most people, Captain. I'm your lover."

"Lovers?"

"I think it's reached that point. Everyone else thinks so too."

Steve pulled her in closer. 'You are my girl, which is why you're going to be the death of me one day."

He meant it lightheartedly, but that statement would be closer to the truth than he though.

* * *

Eventually, the plane touched down in Bokora, the capital of Wakanda. Bobbi wasn't able to go with them, due to the fact that she had to find another Inhuman for Coulson and his team, but she promised to return them to the states. Ghost was already there in the blistering heat, in a variation of custom desert cameo.

"Nice to see everyone made it in one piece," the Englishman commented. "Let's visit Wakanda, shall we?"

Nested in between Uganda and Kenya, Wakanda was often called the Switzerland of Africa for both its fierce neutrality and a fairly advanced society. As the only source of vibranium in the world, the small African kingdom was a target for European colonization in the 1800s. However, Wakanda was one of the only African nations to develop its own firearms, and was capable of taking on the armies of the time. During both World Wars, Wakanda officially remained neutral, but sold Vibranium to the Allies.

In more recent times, the former crown prince, T'Challa, had become king after the mysterious death of his father. T'Challa had thus far continued his father's policies of remaining neutral in world politics while being open for world business, especially in the vibranium trade.

"Not your typical African shithole," commented Ghost, giving a "tour" to the others, passing by neighborhoods that could have been Manhattan or Hong Kong. He'd been stationed in Uganda during his SAS days, and had been here before. "There are slums, but those are few and far between. Looks like any American or British suburb if you ask me."

"That's nice and all," said Sam, "but where's the Aguda brothers? The faster we get them, the better."

"Don't worry mate. I know just where they would be."

Half an hour later, driving past mostly clean and orderly streets, the five of them were riding in a van, headed to the largest of the Aguda distribution centers, a resale shop that served as a cover for their operations. Steve noticed that a pair of Caucasian men was holding the brothers at gunpoint, yelling in some language Steve didn't understand.

"Whoever these guys are, they don't look happy," muttered Steve.

Then the events took a turn for the worse. Both of the brothers pulled out machine pistols and shot their unhappy clients dead. Then, probably in an attempt to cover their tracks, they began firing everywhere, including in the direction of the van. Ghost and Frank had to get out as quick as they could to avoid being shot, while Steve, Wanda, and Sam ducked for cover in the back, with Sam setting up his drone.

"Alright little guy," Sam said, "let's see what you're capable of."

The drone's name was Redwing, and it served as recon in tight places such as the busy streets of Wakanda. Using a monitor he brought along, Sam was able to track Redwing's movements and find where the Aguda brothers had run off to. "It appears that they're headed onto 3rd Street, just south of the Hotel Nile."

"Copy that," yelled Frank as he pushed his way through the terrified Wakandian civilians, rifle in hand. "You guys wanna get a jog in too, or is it just going to be me and the limey doing all the heavy lifting?"

Steve shook his head and started running. Sam followed him, keeping track of Redwing. Wanda flew, hoping to provide an extra set of eyes from the sky. "Wanda, do you see anything?"

"Working on it… they're crossing the hotel now."

"You got that Frank?"

"Yes, Steve, I do." As he and Ghost ran through the lobby of the Hotel Nile, Frank spotted one of the brothers going into a different alley than the other brother. "They're on to us; they split. I'm headed east."

"Roger that. Sam and I will keep moving south to get the other one. Non-lethal takedowns only, Frank, we need them alive."

Castle cursed under his breath.

Amare, the brother that had gone east, was headed up a flight of stairs that led straight towards one of Wakanda's few slum areas. If he could just get through the slum…

He wouldn't, though. Frank fired at both of his legs, immobilizing Amare. Looking for a place to do a quick and makeshift interrogation, Ghost ordered the mechanic of a nearby auto service shop to clear the area. The assistants were kicked out as well.

After dragging Amare in, Frank shut the garage door of the shop and dimmed the lights. "Well well motherfucker, let's see what you know."

"Whatever it is you want, I will not-"

Frank ignored him and stuck a knife in Amare's thigh. "Ghost, get me some jumper cables and a car battery. We'll see how long he holds out."

* * *

Steve had almost gotten to Lekan Aguda when a huge crowd of people blocked his path. Steve then realized that he'd been lured into an open air market of sorts – and it was noon, the busiest time of the day. There were literally hundreds of people blocking his path, and it would take some time to get through them.

"Shit," muttered Sam, panting to catch his breath. This area of the market was in numerous small shacks, with lots of areas for cover. A drone wouldn't be able to find him easily.

"Wanda," said Steve, "can you try to mentally find him?"

"I will try, Captain, but I make no guarantees." She closed her eyes and floated in the sky, trying to find a mental trace of Lekan Aguda somewhere nearby. After a minute, it dawned on her.

"He's further south, past the market. He's headed for the other distribution center on that side of town."

"Let's roll, Sam!"

"Easy for you to say. I ain't exactly in prime physical condition."

"Then get back up or use your flying suit. I'll be on your left."

* * *

Fifteen minutes and various tortures later, Frank and Ghost finally assumed that Amare Aguda had cracked. When blood was dripping from your face and your body racked with wounds, most people cracked.

They'd already found out who the two dead clients were: a pair of Italian loan sharks that had backed out on a deal and who supposedly thought they could get away with it. If Amare could be squeezed out of that, he could be squeezed out of more.

"I'll say it again," said Frank through gritted teeth. "You've been supplying vibranium to terrorists-"

"N-No, I have not."

"Shut the fuck up. You don't get to have a say unless I want you to. Now tell me who you've been specifically supplying to. We know one of your buyers funded the attack in Houston. Refuse to cooperate and I start cutting off fingers."

Ghost just stood silently as Amare began to talk. Frank had to rough him at times to keep him talking.

"It was in July of 2015. A man wearing a crude skull mask insisted on making a business deal. Lekan and I don't know how, but he had enough information on us to put the whole operation in the gutter – unless we worked with him. The message was simple: take the jobs and money, and you'll stay out of Wakandan jail."

"Did you get a name?" asked Ghost.

"Only an alias: Crossbones. And he wore his mask at all times. Never took it off. Like he had a scar on his face he didn't want anyone to see."

"Interesting. Continue."

"So for months we gave this guy and his men whatever he wanted ordered. We do custom weapons as well as vibranium, and this Crossbones wanted it all. He had us design some, tweak some, add improvements… that kind of thing."

"That's a lot to comprehend. Do you have backup info of any kind?" asked Frank, and not in a nice tone of voice. "Like a USB or that kind of shit."

"Come on, he'll kill me."

"Guess he'll be late then."

"Okay, I have some stuff on me. It's in my wallet in the pants pocket." Frank reached in, emptied the wallet, and found a flash drive USB.

"Now, what kind of weapons did he want you to work on? I'm guessing it's not your run of the mill AK-47s."

"Oh no. We're talking World War III stuff."

* * *

Lekan Aguda ran as fast as his knees would allow him to. It had been bad enough that the deal with the Mafia men had gone south, but now he had the Avengers on his tail. He knew taking the "offer" from that Crossbones guy was a bad idea, but Amare didn't want to risk anything.

And where did that get them? With Amare and him split up in the middle of Bokora with no way to contact each other; there was simply no time to make a call. Lekan just had to get to the other distribution center, the one where they made all the weapons, and maybe he could book himself a ticket out of the country.

His legs almost exhausted, he finally stopped at the warehouse in between two more open air markets – only to find a group of men, dressed in yellow and green cameo, at work taking out everything that was in it.

"Excuse me!" Lekan was angry. "What the hell is going on?"

"None of your business."

That was the voice of Crossbones, behind a breathing device under the mask.

"I thought we had a deal."

"We did, except for two things. One, my end of the bargain is done with. Two, you led the Avengers right to me."

"No, I-"

"Yes you did. Where do you think your brother is right now? Jacking off?"

Lekan had nothing to say. He couldn't, with several guns in his face. Guns made of vibranium he'd helped to illegally mine in Wakanda.

"Your value to me has ended," said Brock Rumlow casually, shooting Lekan several times from a wrist mounted gun. "Leave the body," said Rumlow to his men. "We'll ambush whoever tries to find him and make the best of a bad situation."

* * *

"Captain Rogers," Wanda said formally, "Lekan's mental trace has disappeared. I don't know how. Either he somehow has powers on scale of mine or-"

"He's dead," finished Steve. "We need to find him, and we needed to find him yesterday."

With both Steve and Sam running (flying would attract unnecessary attention for Sam), Steve noticed that the general flow of people was once again in his direction. He also noticed that most of them looked panicked. "Wanda, you may want to get down here."

As she did, she noticed a body lying in the ground. A more in-depth investigation revealed that it was Lekan Aguda. But who killed him?

That question was answered when a group of men in green and yellow cameo and automatic weapons stepped out of all the nearby shops and kiosks. Leading them was a man in black, wearing a mask that crudely resembled a skull.

"Well, well," said the man, "If it isn't Captain America's mail order bride herself."


	7. Enter Black Panther

Wanda could not believe what she just heard. "What did you call me?"

"Mail order bride, sweetie. It's when you go to a foreign nation and pay for a wife. And considering Captain America can't get laid on his own, I'm not surprised at all."

Wanda was infuriated, but she knew she had to keep her calm. Crossbones was trying to get her to make another scene, and she was doing her best not to let Rumlow get in her head. A quick scan of his head revealed that he had a score to settle with Steve.

"You know nothing," she snapped at him.

"I mean, he probably had his World War II pals hold his hand for every whore that he fucked. Including you, I suppose. Though the appeal with you is very obvious."

"Wanda." That was Steve's voice, catching up very quickly. "What's going on over there?"

She was about to answer, but then Rumlow said, "Kill her." As soon as she heard it, she propelled herself upwards to avoid all the bullets of the men firing at her. In fact, some of them hit their own comrades, since they were in a circle around her. They fired upwards next, but she managed to throw enough hexes to keep them off balance.

"Come back down here, you little bitch," growled Rumlow. "I'm gonna-"

Steve Rogers then slammed himself into Crossbones, crashing into an ice cream kiosk. Sam grabbed a submachine gun from one of the fallen HYDRA mercenaries and began firing, taking out who he could. "Ghost, Punisher, do you guys read me?!"

"Yeah, we hear you loud and clear," came the disgruntled voice of Frank Castle. "Give us a few minutes, and we'll be there."

"Roger that," said Sam has he pistol whipped one henchman while shooting down two others. How many had Wanda killed? Two or three? And it looked like Rumlow had brought at least two dozen, scattered throughout the vicinity.

"Who the hell are you?" yelled Steve as he attempted to beat down Crossbones.

"Don't recognize me?" was the bitter reply as Crossbones somehow managed to lift off Steve and throw him five feet away. "Of course you wouldn't; you dropped a damn building on me!"

"A building…" And then it dawned on Steve: Sam had been telling him in the hospital that he'd been fighting Rumlow in the Triskelion. No one had known if he'd survived until he'd kidnapped Maria Hill for the Taskmaster, a teacher of his. Since then they'd tried to find Rumlow without any luck.

 _Damn._ "Is it still personal?" Steve noticed that Rumlow's armor had a white X painted on it. He vaguely remembered Maria telling him about some bad guy named Crossbones: " _Named for the white X he has on his costume. Doesn't flitch at torture, human trafficking, or assisting in genocide. As long as he got paid, he did the job._ "

Crossbones was Brock Rumlow?

"Depends, Cap. Depends on how much longer you want to keep fighting me. I can go all day now, by the way." He put on two metal devices on his hands and smashed them against each other. "Pure vibranium, Cap! It'll stand up to your Frisbee any day!"

"We'll see about that," said Steve as he threw his shield at Rumlow.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Ms. Hill," said the Secretary of Defense in his usual scowling tone of voice. "Take a seat."

Maria did, and not really willingly. She personally supported common sense registration, but if Rusk was involved…

"Ms. Hill, I'll be blunt: your boss and I are in agreement that registration is coming faster than anyone thinks. By the end of the day, a bill will be at the President's desk and he's going to sign it. In that bill will be a nationwide registration of all people with extraordinary, so to say, powers, talents, or abilities that make them make them above and beyond normal human capabilities…"

Rusk went on. Maria almost closed her eyes and rested her head, but a disapproving look from Stark suggested she do otherwise. After about five minutes, Rusk finished: "… and Congress will have the power to enforce such registration will due force. Do you understand, Ms. Hill?"

She nodded.

"Good," replied Stark. "Because you may be needed to help us apprehend Cap and any of his friends that aren't going to come to us willingly."

"You sure about that?" Maria knew it was going to come to this, but still, Steve Rogers was a friend, and going against a friend was nothing to take lightly.

"Maria," said Stark, "I know you're probably asking something in your head about how Steve is not to be touched, that he's a friend or something. He's my friend too. But I want the best for him, and the best for this country as well. Where's Steve right now?"

Maria gulped. "Wakanda."

"Whatever it is, he's probably breaking laws if it wasn't for being diplomatically immune, now would he?"

"I didn't make the call. Fury did."

"And where is the pirate? He ran off again, from the looks of it." Fury indeed had gone off to somewhere Maria didn't know, but she wasn't going to tell Stark that. All she knew on the matter was that Fury had called it Zodiac, or some other horoscope name.

"And how many people know of both of their locations?" asked Rusk harshly? "Besides us three, of course. How many of the public? We've already seen powered people doing things unchecked in Texas. What if something happens in Wakanda? We can't just openly cause situations on foreign nations like that."

As the former second in command of an intelligence agency, Maria knew that every nation was conducting in every other nation. It was an open secret. But she agreed with the SecDef on that part. She knew Steve to be better than that, because if another situation took place in Wakanda, support for registration would only grow further.

In retrospective, it was a mistake she should have seen and corrected. All she could do was twirl with her fingers and pretend she wasn't wrong for once.

"It's alright, Maria," said Stark reassuringly. "We'll make sure he complies, one way or another. All we need is your official support for the registration act."

"Sure. It's just… why you? When were you the person to rally behind the government?"

Rusk began to speak, but Stark raised his hand and began talking. "After Ultron, I realized that, once again, I had become part of a system with no accountability. That's the whole heart of the subject matter. I left the team for that reason; it's not a secret really. It was fine as long as Steve and Wanda and the rest weren't causing international incidents, but when innocent lives are on the line due to the actions of the man who killed my father, I'm not going to sit here silently."

Maria understood him completely. Howard Stark had been one of the assassinations completed by the Winter Soldier. It was only natural for Tony Stark to see him brought to justice.

The meeting ended not long after that; the rest of it had to do with frivolous details. As she began to leave, Rusk pulled her to the side. "You said Fury's not here, right."

"That's correct. Why?"

"Normally he'd be the one invited to National Security Council meetings, but I guess you'll do in his absence. I'll give you the details in my helicopter."

* * *

Walking out the building, Maria caught a glimpse of Natasha. Due to the fact she was Russian, Fury didn't want her on the Wakanda mission. No need to; she was already being watched by several NSA men due to the Russian connection. In fact, they were interrogating her right now. Natasha gave her a curt nod while being on the receiving end of another round of questions as Maria stepped out of the facility and got in the Department of Defense helicopter.

Frank ran up the steps, pushing through anyone in his way. After telling Ghost to upload Amare's files to base and get back to the C-130, Frank told the Brit to leave the weapons trafficker in the streets.

"What about him?" Ghost had asked.

"Let the locals take care of him. We've got bigger things to worry about at the moment."

Frank then headed further south, to where the fighting was taking place. The increasing number of burning buildings and flipped over cars seemed to point that out to him. A man in jungle camouflage was scanning the street with a fancy looking F2000 rifle. Frank hid for a minute, then placed a well time shot in his shoulder.

"Hey asshole," said Frank to the wounded man, "who's running the show? You speak English?"

The henchman just laughed. Frank laughed for a minute alongside him – and then shot off his hand.

"I really hope you were left handed," said Frank as the man screamed in pain. "Now tell me who's your boss. And in English, please."

He got the information he wanted, alright. And when it was finished, Frank put a bullet in his head and kept moving. Never stop running, never stop moving. Just keep moving and finding targets. He found his next target from a rooftop, attempting to get a sight on Sam Wilson. The sniper never got to get a sight on the Falcon, or anyone else for that matter.

* * *

Rumlow knocked the shield away with his vibranium gauntlets as if it was a paper airplane. He stared Captain America down for a second, then ran at him, yelling a wordless battle cry. Steve's left hand managed to catch Rumlow's face, but both of Crossbones' gauntlets hit their mark, slamming against Steve's chest. Surprisingly, it actually hurt a little.

"How does it feel, Cap?" Rumlow's words no doubt carried bitterness and rage. "Now you're the one on the receiving end."

"You're gonna pay, you bastard." Steve got back up and began landing his own blows on Rumlow. He couldn't block them all with gauntlets. "You're gonna pay for using Bucky as your human weapon."

"Bucky?" Rumlow, from beneath his mask, raised his eyebrows, though he never stopped fighting. "That's the name of the Winter Soldier? Of the asset? Talk about a faggot name-"

"SHUT UP!" Steve kicked Crossbones into another hut. The HYDRA leader didn't seem to fazed that much, however.

'You know, Cap, he remembered you. Bits and pieces, for what that's worth."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"He found out who you are… just before we wiped him again." Without warning, Rumlow lifted one of his feet and kicked Steve's crown jewels as hard as he could. Steve was forced to be sent back, where he caught glimpse of the rest of his team fighting Rumlow's men. Frank was strangling one of them, Wanda was lifting another in the air, and Sam was shooting at a third. All of them were too busy to be able to help him incapacitate Rumlow.

Lying on the ground, Steve noticed another darkly clad feature, one with the features of a panther or some other big cat, swiftly moving, keeping to the shadows.

"It's a shame, Cap," said Rumlow, preparing his gauntlets. "You'll never see what HYDRA had planned for the world-"

Suddenly, Rumlow was sent flying, far away from where Steve was. Steve took advantage to get himself up – and face the shadowy man.

He had an inkling about who this was. The Wakandan king had a ceremonial role called "Black Panther", roughly the equivalent of commander in chief. Only thing was, the Black Panther didn't sit on the sidelines while his men were dying. The Black Panther was fully expected to be the face of not only Wakanda, but Africa.

Steve was staring into the covered face of T'Challa.

Steve picked up his shield as the Black Panther circled him. "Who are you, Man of America?" asked the Panther.

"Captain America. Look, thanks for the help. My team and I really appreciate-"

"No. I did not come out here solely so that you could walk out of my country free. No, I came out here because I do not want to see this kind of reckless violence in Wakanda, or anywhere for that matter. What gives you the right?"

Steve swallowed down hard. "We're the Avengers, we have detailed rights-"

T'Challa leaped and attempted to scratch Steve with what appeared to be artificial claws. Steve blocked it with his shield, but the claws left a very noticeable set of scars. Judging from what Frank had said a day ago about vibranium and bullets, Steve guessed that the Black Panther had his own vibranium.

"Never forget that it was your government that illegally mined in my country during the Second World War," said T'Challa.

"I'm not your enemy," panted Steve. "That man you took out, he's the real threat in your country."

"And you are not? In your attempt to deal with a pair of Wakandan criminals, you recklessly go around my capital city, causing destruction without a care in the world? I've heard about your country's registration proposals. I can see why they would want one now."

Steve saw the other HYDRA men retreat and group up in various places. "Look, we'll make it up to you, but we need to get those HYDRA men and fast. They're-"

Rumlow had gotten back up, and the first thing he did was punch Steve and throw him into Black Panther. Both men tumbled into each other, while Crossbones jumped on top of a crate to get a better view.

"Looks like you made a new best friend, Steve."

Steve got himself off of T'Challa, who put his claws in the air uneasily and defensively. During this, Steve also noticed that Wanda had just finished fighting the henchmen that were trying to kill her and was conjuring another hex, aimed for Rumlow. A second later, the hex struck Rumlow in the back, sending him up in the air and into a pile of rubble.

T'Challa never took his eyes off of Wanda as she set herself down on the ground. His eyes showed little more than disdain.

"Who was that man?" he asked.

"Brock Rumlow," said Steve, sensing a détente of sorts. 'He worked as a leader for HYDRA. He may well still be operating one of their cells."

"And what brings them to Wakanda?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Wanda with some fire. "Your vibranium is among the more valued minerals in the world. If the king of Wakanda doesn't know about-"

"Don't," said Steve, raising a hand. As much as he wanted to be on Wanda's side, he knew she was alienating Black Panther, who should have been an ally, not a third player. Then again, Wakanda liked to be a third player in the Cold War, back in the day. "Rumlow and his men were after a pair of black arms dealers in vibranium. I had someone download their files-"

T'Challa raised his hand: enough. He clearly didn't want to waste any time on details.

"Just this once, I let you go," said T'Challa, as if he had already decided that the battle was over. "Take your group and get out of my country. My army and police will handle the criminals. And if I ever find you doing this again in Wakanda…"

The king didn't need to complete his sentence. The thinly veiled threat was already there.

* * *

Leaving the local police to round up the bad guys, Steve recovered Sam and met up with Frank and Ghost at the C-130. Wanda followed suit. "Well… not a total victory," muttered Sam as he tended to some wounds he'd gotten while fighting.

"Not a total loss either," said Frank in reply. "The brother that didn't die gave me this flash drive. I downloaded it and I'll let Maria and her blonde friend at the CIA sort it out."

While Sam and Frank debated over whether that was a good idea, Wanda sat to herself in a corner as the plane took off. She couldn't shake the idea of being Steve's "mail order bride" out of her head. She wished Rumlow had never said it. The son of a bitch.

"Damn it," she shouted in Serbian as she slammed a fist against the wall of the plane. All eyes turned to her, but Steve was first on scene. "What's wrong?"

"Can we talk about it in private?"

So they did, in the room of the plane holding Bucky. "That man – Rumlow, I think – told me I was nothing more than your whore."

"And what else?" Steve's blood began to boil. It was bad enough that Rumlow was alive and wanted him dead. To bring Wanda into their feud…

After letting herself sob a little bit in his arms, and had to comfort her. "Don't let him make you believe that you're anything less than what you are. He'll get his due in a Wakandian prison soon enough."

I hope so," was the meek reply.

All of a sudden, Bucky's body began to spasm. His eyes then opened suddenly, darting around to see his surroundings. He found Steve and Wanda, and narrowed his vision, like a vulture scouting his prey.

Steve and Wanda broke their embrace and were about to do something when Frank came in the room. "Hey Steve, Stark and Maria want to talk to you-"

Frank's eyes then narrowed on Bucky, who had freed himself of all restraints and medical tubes, but not the clasp on the metal arm. Frank immediately drew his pistol and aimed it at Bucky's forehead.


	8. Remember

"Make a move and you're dead," snapped Frank. He wasn't taking any chances with someone so unstable and deadly.

Steve firmly faced Frank. "Lower the gun, Frank. He doesn't know any better."

"I don't trust him."

While they argued, Bucky blinked a few times and stared at Frank. "Rumlow?"

"What?" said Frank.

"Brock Rumlow… my handler. You look like him. Are you him?"

Frank was about to yell again, much to the chagrin of Wanda, but Steve put a hand on Frank's gun and lowered it. "Hey, Bucky."

Bucky narrowed his vision, almost suspiciously. Both Wanda and Frank looked on uneasily.

"You look familiar… your face. It goes in and out." Bucky's voice had a sense of futility to it, like he was a man who'd known what he'd done and had accepted the consequences.

"It's familiar," began Steve, "because it is familiar. I'm Steve. We grew up together, fought in the Second World War together. Do you remember that?"

"Bits and pieces. They made me forget any traces of who you were. They said that you were dead and that I was to serve HYDRA and the Russians."

"I see," said Steve, trying his best to be as sympathetic as possible. "Those men that forced you to do those things, they won't ever be making you do them again. No more killing in the name of HYDRA or the USSR."

"They made me kill John F. Kennedy and use Oswalt as a scapegoat, made me kill Martin Luther King, and also, Howard Stark. 'Proceed to target," they would say."

While Bucky and Steve reconciled, with Wanda looking on, Frank finally decided to leave and make a call to Maria. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"I personally haven't. I was at a meeting and let Sharon sort it out at the CIA. But she's been telling me that your hunch was right. If this stuff gets out, whoever gets their hands on even a small fraction of the smuggled weapons becomes a world power overnight."

"What do you means by 'gets out?' We have to assume-"

"I mean that Rumlow, or whoever he's working for, is planning for some serious selling deals for the majority of this stuff."

 _Interesting. From registration acts about the world's superhumans to buying and selling a good chunk of the world's vibranium._ "And what evidence do we have for that?"

"Does the name Francois Ivera mean anything to you?"

"It does." Francois Ivera was the head of the so-called Free Forces of the Basque Nation (FFBN), a separatist movement in the Basque speaking regions of France and Spain. They were well organized and made very clear their desire to create a unified Basque state – at the expense of France and Spain. "But what does he have to do with anything?"

"His name was found in the data you sent back to us, attached to a pending account payment of 5 million euros."

"Big money. Pending to whom?"

"Rumlow, or whoever's he's working for." The sound of rustling of notes came on the phone. "Anyways, Sharon found something connecting everything: Coulson's team and the French government found a vibranium landmine in the back of a captured FFBN truck."

"No way that is worth millions of euros," said Frank as the plane began to gain some altitude.

"Of course not. I think that the landmine was a freebie to get Kolba committed to this auction or whatever."

"So let me put two and two together," said Frank. "Rumlow is playing host to an auction, which may or may not be another head of HYDRA. He takes the weaponry to Somalia, which is the best place to get anything smuggled out of Africa, and from there Amare didn't know any further. After it got received at the designation, Rumlow took hold of the weaponry again and put out the word to the planet's separatist groups, organized crime, and terrorists that if they provide a small ante, they could win for themselves their very own vibranium armory. "

"Makes sense. That landmine, by the way? It was a miniature MIRV, or multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle. It uses motion sensors to target several vehicles, and can even attack low flying aircraft. Combine that with Chitauri based armor piercing penetrators – that's where the vibranium comes in handy – and this thing could take out a squadron of Quinjets in less than eight seconds."

* * *

Wanda couldn't believe herself.

This was the man that Strucker and List had written off to "drowning in Potomac." This was their prized asset who'd offed JFK and Princess Diana. And here he was, recovering his lost identity of Bucky Barnes, wartime partner of Steve Rogers, the one and only Captain America.

"… and your mother's name was Sarah, right?" Bucky had also seemed to relax a little. She couldn't know for certain, but she suspected drugs were a part of what the Russians applied to control him.

"Yeah, that's right," said Steve from a chair. He was confident that Bucky wasn't going to lash out at them. "She really enjoyed having you around, you know. Said you kept me out of trouble."

'Trouble?"

"I wasn't always like this." Steve motioned towards his bicep muscles. "I used to be really scrawny growing up. Always got in fights with the bullies, and you were the one to break it up. Got us both in detention and even a suspension, but you were always there for me, till the end of the line."

Bucky's eyes widened when Steve said "end of the line". Wanda immediately knew that it was a trigger of some sorts to Bucky's old identity.

"Till the end of the line… You've said that to me before."

Steve gave a sad smile. "Yes I did, back in Washington-"

"Steve," said Wanda, "we don't want him to get flashbacks of any kind."

Steve patted her on the back. "It's ok, sweetie. He's not going to hurt you." He faced Bucky again. "It was in Washington. They'd programmed you to protect one of the helicarriers while I was trying to disable it. I did, but was wounded. You tried to kill me then and there, but I told you I was with you to the end of the line, and then… I don't know. I woke up in a hospital."

"I set you down, on a riverbed," said Bucky. "I didn't know what else to do. Still don't."

"It's alright, Buck. We're going to take care of you." Steve and Wanda reassured Bucky that things were fine, and then left the holding room to take a call from Stark. "Tony."

"Steve! How have you been since our last meeting?"

"Fine. Maria and Frank said you want to talk?"

"I did. Remember that registration act you've been throwing a hissy fit over? It's been passed. I was the first to publicly register. You can see it on CNN if you want to."

"I don't." Steve walked from one side of the plane to the other. "You know what this means for you and your company. The Department of Defense will have itself all wrapped up in you."

"If that's how you want to put it, fine. But I think it's the right call. I'm tired of cleaning my own mess, and helping everyone else clean their own messes as well. Don't you get that?"

Steve fumed. "I do, but we're still the best people equipped to face-"

"I know, Steve, I know. But if you and I keep running around unchecked, who's going to pay for all the innocent lives? A little birdie told me you were in Africa just recently. Wakanda, right?"

"What all did Maria tell you?" Steve asked angrily.

"Enough to know that you've been violating international law. I wouldn't be surprised of T'Challa makes a press conference denouncing the Avengers soon."

"He already knows. Don't try probing him to support your so-called act."

"Steve, I didn't write the registration act. Congress did."

"And if you're not against it but actively supporting it, you're no better than them." Steve wished it hadn't come to this between him and Stark. He and the man had been good friends for years. But if push came to shove, he knew where his core ideals where.

"Don't make me do something I don't want to have to do. The Marine Corps already confiscated Fury's helicarrier, by the way. They're gonna use it to be able to deploy three companies of Marines anywhere in the world within two hours."

"And you don't think that's a bad idea? This isn't finished." Steve angrily closed the phone and went to the pilot's room. "Bobbi, how long until touchdown?'

"Maybe a few hours."

"Got it." Steve fumed back and nearly ran into Wanda. "What's with you?" he asked.

"You need to calm yourself down. You don't want to do something rash because-"

"Because I'm sick of injustice and oppression?!" Steve didn't realize it, but he'd raised his voice up a few notches. Wanda took a few steps back away from him.

"I'm… sorry," he said quickly, realizing. "I didn't mean to."

"Of course you didn't." She turned away and walked off, saying, "You're willing to risk everything we've worked for over a registration act. Can't say I'm against it, though."

"And what does that mean?"

"You figure it out."

* * *

The plane landed at a base that was not as full as life as it was before. Steve and Frank both suspected that the Army had taken over it, but a lack of any personnel suggested that was not the case. Still, there was no sign of Vision, Natasha, or Rhodes anywhere.

As soon as Steve got on a laptop, everything changed significantly. Rhodes was waiting on video call, and the background suggested he was at the Pentagon. "Captain, I presume you and the others made it out of Africa in one piece?"

"We're all right, if that's what you're wondering. And why is base empty?"

Rhodey swallowed. Hard. "Hate to be the one to break it to you Cap, but we've decided to go ahead and sign the registration act. Doesn't mean we're against you, but with national pressure on all sides, we really didn't have a choice."

"Rhodey, what's your honest opinion on all this?"

"I wish there was another way. I really do. But with all the chaos and violence in the world, a man's gotta do what he must. Besides, the Air Force probably wouldn't appreciate it if a man with a Mark III suit isn't registered with them."

"Don't agree with you, but I understand." Steve paused for a moment. "Any chance Stark put you up to this?"

"I'm with the Air Force. Stark being in on the act is just a bonus, in my opinion. Oh, and you may want to get the team in Washington soon. I can't guarantee that you'll be exempt from the registration list."

"Do what you can." Steve ended the conversation and talked to Sam. "Anything new from Wakanda?"

Sam shook his head. "They're labeling the whole thing as one big terrorist event, with the Akuda brothers as scapegoats. Not a word of HYDRA presence." Sam shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably for the best." His attentions turned towards Wanda, who had a bored look on her face as she twirled a strand of her brown hair. "Hey. About the plane-"

"No need," she said in a dead tone of voice. "Your emotions simply got the better of you. I just hope they don't hurt me in the process."

"I wouldn't do that to you. You know that."

"Not willingly, you wouldn't."

Steve sighed heavily. "Forgive me. I don't know much about this whole love thing. I reckon it's the same with you?"

"Aside from one romantic tryst with a Romani boy, yes. So why are you so vehemently opposed to this act?"

Every time the government says it's regulating people for the sake of safety, it never ends well. Think Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Benjamin Franklin said those who would sacrifice a little bit of liberty in exchange for a bit of security deserve neither. Besides, don't you think that the US would experiment on you? On Bucky?"

He had a good point.

"What do you plan to do with Bucky, by the way? Stark will want him tried and executed for killing his father."

"He didn't do that, HYDRA did. And if Stark is sensible, he'll realize that. I think Bucky's in good enough mental state to be let go of the restraints."

Not so much, as it turned out. Bucky's metal arm had been caught in one of the restraints, and there was no way to remove it without severing the arm. Ultimately, Steve and Sam decided to move the whole apparatus (Bucky included) into an empty garage. "This would have been a lot easier about a week ago," commented Falcon.

"Maybe we could call Tony-" suggested Steve, thinking of the only person who could solve their dilemma.

"Nah man, he won't believe it. Besides, who knows if he'll even want to, or just give him up to SecDef Rusk."

Steve frowned. "Guess we're on our own on this one."

"Maybe not," countered Sam. "I know a guy."

"Who?"

"Remember that explosion in San Francisco at Pym Tech?"

"Yep."

Sam explained the whole story about Ant-Man, Scott Lang, and Hank Pym to Steve. When finished with that, he said, "Main thing is, he can shrink down to about the size of these jams in the machinery. He's our best bet. Given how he probably won't like having to register, he could be a good ally as well. We'll need as many as we can get, if you're serious about taking on the government like you want to."

"Oh, I'm going to."

"So we're going to Washington to challenge it?"

"Yep."

* * *

Frank got the encoded text from Maria about ten minutes after finding the abandoned base:  _Get yourself to the southern end of the forest. Tell the others you're doing a private matter. Wait there._

He did so, taking his weapons and some survival gear with him. He had an inkling about what he was going to get himself into.

Fifteen minutes later, a limo rolled in. The door opened; Maria was waiting inside.

"Hell of an entrance, if you ask me," said Frank closed the door, only to find both Sharon Carter and the Secretary of Defense also in the limo.

"Sorry for the short notice, Mr. Castle," said Secretary Rusk. "Maria assures me you're the best we've got that isn't qualified for registration."

"Yeah, good call pissing off the Captain like that."

"Mr. Castle, might I remind you that the only reason you're not locked up on Riker's is because of your bedfellow's most convincing argument.

Frank rolled his eyes. Maria shot daggers at Rusk. Sharon took it upon herself to move on to the matters at hand.

"Frank, we asked you be here because we have an urgent matter that we think you are the best equipped to handle."

"And what's that?"

Sharon pulled out a laptop, opened it, and handed it to Frank.

* * *

Helmut Zemo heard a knock at his door, and then the scuffling of feet into his office. The desk of said office was covered in newspapers from Berlin, Moscow, London, Washington DC, and New York. So far, everything was going as planned. The board was intact, and all players he wanted still on were still on.

"Sir, we have a message from our contact in Texas." The messenger's voice was weak; what else to expect from a lankly graduate student from Princeton?

"Yes, what is it?"

"Yuri and Boris were apprehended in San Antonio. That makes five of our men captured."

From under his purple mask, Zemo smiled. "Good. Very good."

"How is that good? The US authorities have them. If they talk-"

"Oh, they'll talk."

"But-"

Zemo waived his hand. "In chess, the king can be placed in check. Do you know the three ways to get out of check?"

The messenger thought for a moment. "Move the king, capture the attacking piece, or block the attack."

"How do you know if that's what your opponent wanted?"

"I wouldn't know."

"And that's how you lose a chess game. You're dismissed." As he did that, Zemo moved another piece.


	9. A Shift in Priorities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I should have not left you guys hanging. Life got in the way and... well, now I have time to write again!

Frank looked in the laptop. Maria was in it, and she was seated in what he knew was the White House Situation Room.

"You deserve to know what's going on," said Maria. Rusk made a "humph" sound. In the video, there were a number of high ranking members of the National Security Council, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Advisor, and Secretary of State Thaddeus Rusk (the previous Secretary of State had been HYDRA). Maria was seated between SecDef Rusk and Gyrich.

The Chief of Staff appeared. "Alright ladies and gents, I'll be updating the President following this meeting, so let's get started. First off, Ms. Hill, it is my understanding that you are here in place of former SHIELD Director Nick Fury. I assume you have updated numbers from Houston?"

All eyes turned to her, Maria Hill cleared her throat. "Yes, sir. As of an hour ago, the total confirmed dead is nine hundred and thirty four. Given mortal wounds and other variabilities, the causality list will probably be more than a thousand when all said and done."

There were various murmurs of shock around the table. The National Security Advisor, a Hispanic woman about the same age as Maria, said something about "those damn superheroes."

"Moving on," said the Chief of Staff, ignoring the NSA. "Gyrich, if you would."

Gyrich opened a folder and shuffled his papers. "Twelve hours ago, the FBI agent in charge of the situation in Houston received traffic security videotapes of the two surviving black Humvees fleeing the scene. We subsequently put a BOLO for both vehicles. The first Humvee was found abandoned and burning in a field in Lake Charles, Louisiana. An anonymous tip led to the stop of the second Humvee just outside San Antonio. The two men inside were in possession of Kiparis submachine guns made of vibranium and $10,000 in cash. They were taken to the Bexar County Jail for questioning.

"After initially refusing to cooperate, one of the men, who claimed his name was Boris Petrov, gave details about the escape plan: pay Mexican cartel smugglers to sneak them across the border and drop them off at a yacht off the coast of Baja California."

"A team of SEALs just raided the yacht an hour ago," said Rusk, looking off his phone. "None of the crew survived the shootout, but the SEALs found documents indicating the yacht's ultimate destination: Vladivostok, Russia."

Even from a video camera, Frank knew the word  _Russia_ would increase the tension levels in the room. Russia had already proven itself to be unreliable as a global partner, and even a rival. He saw both the Chairman and Secretary of Stark Rusk taking notes.  _They better._ Unless new information surfaced, both men would be given a variety of options on how to deal with Russia.

Jim Berry, the bearded CIA Director, spoke next. "I'll be sending my Chief of Station in Seoul to Siberia and beat the bushes; see what turns up. Unfortunately, we don't really have much in Siberia. Haven't exactly been welcome for decades."

"What are the Russians thinking?" said the Security of Homeland Security. "Don't they know what this will bring?"

 _Of course they do,_ thought Frank. With the new direction Putin was going in, there was no turning back for him. The Sokovian and Syrian interventions were just pansies. This had to be the real power play in the geopolitical landscape.

"Do you have anything on your end, Mr. Rusk?" asked the Chief of Staff.

"It's what you'd expect. Russia is denying any involvement, of course. China and Iran have made public statements of support for their main ally. If we go to war, we're looking at a potential World War III."

"Do we have enough support for us if it comes to that?"

"Oh yea, Mr. Chief of Staff. We've got the backing of Congress, the UN, and most of the EU."

The meeting went on, talking about the finer details of deployment and battle. When it was done, Frank looked up to Rusk. "So we're at DEFCON something or other?"

"You could say that. Here's how it's going to play out. By the end of the day, Congress will name the Russian Federation as the perpetrator of the Houston attack. In a unanimous vote they'll reaffirm Ellis' ability to use all necessary force for retaliation. Then I'll have to put a plan of action on the White House desk. Two days from now, a fleet of some sorts will be moving right along the Bering Strait just outside Russian territorial waters."

"And we should be concerned about this… how?"

Sharon cleared her throat. "That intel you gave us might indicate that we're going in the wrong path."

* * *

Steve and Sam got out of the car and faced the Supreme Court building. He'd been here once before, to settle a case involving the destruction of the Battle of New York. Stark's lawyers had actually been inside and won the case for him, but it was still a DC sight to behold.

Matt Murdock got out of the Court, with Wanda and Coulson watching around him. "Hell of a case."

Steve knew about Matt via Frank. "How did Jessica do?" Jessica Jones, another person with superpowers via hazardous chemicals, was on trial for various crimes committed while under the influence of a man named Killgrave. It was to be precedent for future cases regarding superhumans.

Matt frowned. "Not good. It's never a good day when my client nearly strangles the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. By the way, I would advise against openly defying the act. The government's going to come down on you with everything they've got."

"So you're in favor of it?" asked Steve.

"I never said that," replied Matt with a grin.

Wanda's face suddenly grimaced. "Steve, I feel it deep in my bones. It's not good. Very bad."

"What is it?"

She didn't need to answer. Not two seconds later, a quartet of black cars appeared on both sides of the road, locking down the Supreme Court. Men in blue and black cameoflauge blocked all entry and exit points in the road. People on Capitol Hill, just across the street, were watching with interest.

Steve had an inkling, and that inkling was confirmed when two Iron Man suits landed down in the middle of the street, to face Steve and his group. Colonel James Rhodes and Tony Stark.

'Cap," said Stark, smiling through his teeth.

"Stark, what the hell is this?! Colonel Rhodes told me-"

"Sorry, man," said Rhodey with a sad look. "Air Force answers to the President, and so does Stark."

"And he wants me in captivity? You, I understand, but Tony,,," Steve took two steps towards the owner of Stark Industries. "Why you?"

"I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of being part of a system with no accountability. Consider it a way of making up for past mistakes."

"He feels bad about the whole Ultron fiasco," said Rhodey.

"Don't you know what you're doing? You're basically signing yourself over to the government."

"That may not be such a bad thing," countered Stark. "That helicarrier, by the way? Navy took over it. USS Winfield Scott Hancock, or whoever. It'll be able to drop a SEAL team anywhere in the world within ninety minutes. That sound good, Cap?"

"No."

"Like it or not, Boy Scout, this isn't the forties anymore." The two of them were a hair's width apart from each other, with everyone else making a circle. "Get with the times."

"I'm changing my beliefs to fit your comfort zone."

"Fine then." Stark pressed a button on his wrist. "Subdue them by any means necessary-"

He was sucker punched by Captain America. The war had begun.

* * *

"Explain," said Frank.

Sharon cleared her throat again. "The last thing we extracted from the intel was this." She pulled out a computer printout that, to the untrained eye, looked like nothing more than a bunch of random numbers and codons. However, he knew exactly what it was.

"An IP address," he said.

"Give the man a medal," said Maria. "This particular IP led us to a service provider in Berlin, which led to an email account, and it finally led us to Saxon Secure Internet. It specializes in virtual private networks and internet service.

"According to the records, this account provides internet via proxies to an old castle complex outside of Nanhouf, in eastern Germany." Maria looked around the limo. No one showed any signs of knowing. "Ring any bells?"

Rusk and Frank shook their heads. Sharon shrugged her shoulders.

"Nanhouf was the capitol of the old Barony of Zemo. Hendrik Zemo was said to retire there over two decades ago."

Frank was simply surprised to hear a HYDRA as much as he was hearing a German name.

Hendrik Zemo was a Nazi scientist during World War II. He had been a member of HYDRA and had performed human experimentation on Allied prisoners for years. As part of Operation Paperclip, he'd been exonerated with dozens of other former Nazis to help the US. This would ultimately be a mistake, as these people would end up reforming HYDRA within SHIELD and the US government.

Hendrik eventually took the position of Secretary of the World Security Council, which he used to further HYDRA's aims around the world: fear and chaos. He also recruited a young and disillusioned State Department officer named Alexander Pierce to be his eventual successor. In 1984, he announced that he was planning to release a Pentagon Papers-esque report about SHIELD's activities in Vietnam, probably after a change of heart. Then, his personality changed.

He insisted that his coffee be as black as possible. He demanded that everyone at staff meetings wear neon green shirts. He moved for place to place across the east coast. Then, a year later in 1985, he announced he was not going to release his report, but rather go to East Germany "to make peace". Then he got on a private jet. That was the last anyone had heard of them.

"Don't get me wrong," said Rusk, rolling his eyes. "I'm glad we finally have something, but the fact that our new best suspect is SHIELD's answer to Bobby Fischer is not appealing."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," replied Frank.

Maria sighed. "All I can give you is the facts: the Humvees from Houston were purchased by a dummy German bank company, which has an account with Saxon, and that same account is paying for Internet for a castle in the middle of an abandoned castle."

"Which in turn may be run by someone who's half insane," said Frank bluntly. "We don't even know if Hendrik is alive."

"That's about the size of it," said Sharon. "Oh, there's one last detail. The place is a fortress. According to reliable reports, Castle Zemo has a security system worthy of a small army base: armed patrols, electric fences, and several guardhouses. Whoever's there is pretty concerned about their privacy."

All eyes on Frank again.

"Looks like a job for me."

* * *

As soon as they saw Captain America go on the offensive, the armed forces around the area began to counterattack, spraying the area with rubber bullets. Wanda quickly put up a forcefield to block most bullets, but a few of the men got inside.

No sooner did the soldiers get past the defense did they find themselves attacked by Matt Murdock, who they assumed was a harmless threat. Unknown to them, he was Daredevil. He almost effortlessly grabbed one soldier and threw him into another. Others fired, but Matt dodged all the bullets and proceeded to lay waste into them.

"Remind me to get him for a lawyer," Coulson said to himself as he made a call on his phone. Up in the air, War Machine and Falcon began a game of cat and mouse.

"Give it up, Cap," growled Tony as he recovered from the punch and began firing at Steve. "It's a new world. We hold people accountable these days."

"Like you and your arms deals?"

It was a low blow, and Tony knew it. "I came clean on that long ago. Besides, I'm a new man. Are you?"

"Let's find out." Steve punched again, this time meeting an Iron Man fist. After a few seconds, both of them threw each other off. Steve grabbed his shield to block the next wave of repulsors and bullets coming his way. In the distance, Steve also noticed a masked female soldier square off against Matt, eventually gaining the upper hand on him. She threw him on the ground and left him for the other cops.

Steve rushed at her with his shield. However, the mystery woman seemed to have anticipated this and acrobatically jumped her way out of it. While doing this, however, Steve threw the shield at her. The shield knocked her helmet off, revealing a tangle of red hair.

Natasha Romanoff.

"Natasha?!" Steve could believe it. One of his best friends had convinced another to turn against him. "You too?"

"It isn't exactly an honor to be Russian these days, Steve. I'm just making it easier on myself."

"By selling out your own team?"

"I do what I have to, Cap. I promise it'll be much easier if you cooperate."

Before she finished, she raised her right hand, intending to taze Steve. He narrowly dodged the Taser rod and pushed her away, not wanting to hit one of his close friends.

"I don't want to hurt you," he said.

"I know. I don't want to do the same. But I have to do what's necessary." Without warning, she threw the Taser rod at Wanda, still maintaining the force field. The shock sent her crashing to the ground, and the force field evaporated.

"NO!" Steve finally hit Natasha, sending her flying into another soldier. He went to Wanda, picking her up, ignoring everything else. "I'm getting you out of here."

But before he could do anything else, a gun barrel was pressed against his neck. "Drop her, Captain. And this ain't rubber bullets in this gun." Steve also saw Matt Murdock finally being taken away, and Falcon being subdued by War Machine.

Just as he was about to drop Wanda, a rumbling in the ground took place. Then, the soldiers began being thrown, as if by the Hulk. But there was no one throwing them, it was if an invisible hand picked them and tossed them around.

Steve put Wanda down and say Coulson arrive with reinforcements: a mixed race woman with gauntlets that appeared to be behind the throwing, and another, a blond man, who tossed lightning bolts around.

"I'm Daisy," said the woman, who appeared Eurasian. "Do you want to evade registration or not?"

* * *

Rammstein was a good several thousand miles from where Frank Castle would have liked to have been. But since it was America's closest base to Castle Zemo, it was where he was being dropped off. Maria embraced him tightly as he proceeded to take a jeep further into Germany.

"Be safe," she told him.

"I try," was the reply, and then he was gone.

She then went to do what she would have told Frank, but didn't have the courage to. She went into the women's restroom and pulled from her pocket a pregnancy test.


	10. It's Ok

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm extremely lazy at updating. I hope you love me and comment anyways.

rank came to the ten foot high electric fence, and looked for any weak points.

On paper, three miles in six hours would have been a nice, easy stroll. He'd been in foreign countries for months at times during his SEAL days, and had learned to operate in an environment that was not your own. The problem was, he was sure he'd been tagged. At one of the traffic stops in Frankfurt, the officer took his sweet time making copies of his passport, which signaled to Frank that he was tagged by someone.

Who, he didn't know, but he was willing to be it was HYDRA.

After arriving in Naunhof and paying for two nights at the local inn, Frank made his way to the deposit place soon after dawn. He couldn't just bring his materials into Germany, but Maria and Rusk had arranged for a friend of a friend to get some things ready.

Frank was appreciative of them. It always helped to have Kevlar and an MP5 when infiltrating a possible HYDRA base. After a few more minutes looking around the fence, he found a suitable hole in it that could be cut without much difficulty. He took out a device that resembled a bike lock. To the untrained eye, it was just that. To Frank, it was a miniature EMP that took out anything within ten feet, including the electric fence behind the first fence.

Yep, this person was serious about their privacy.

Castle Zemo's security station was located on the south end of a large circular field where the main castle was in the middle of. Frank had just slipped in the grounds, and now had to cross through a field of tall trees. A few birds crowed, and some footsteps shuffled, but other than that there was nothing, no one but the Punisher. His night vision goggles allowed him to see anyone coming with ease.

_Too easy._

Ten minutes of crossing the bleak forest, and Frank ran into a road. Judging from his earlier navigation, he needed to go to the right – or rather, to the north towards the castle. Sticking to a ditch next to the road, Frank continued on until the distant hum of a vehicle was heard. Not taking chances, Frank went prone and waited to see what happened. The vehicle, a Jeep, stopped and two men in woodlands cameo got out, taking a walk around.

One of the men said something in German: "Hey Wilhelm, got a smoke?"

Apparently, that was too loud for the other man. "I'm here, you dumbass. Stop yelling." _Also in German._

The first man put his submachine gun on the hood of the Jeep. "How many cigarettes you got left."

"Plenty." Both men took a second to light a smoke. "Any word on how our Slavic friends are going along?"

"Not yet," said the first man. "All I know is that it's pretty big."

"Damn right it's big." With that, the two tossed their cigarettes and got back in the Jeep. Frank watched as they stopped at what could only have been a checkpoint. Dull and grey, it came to life when a search light beamed over the Jeep. A third man in the checkpoint got out, said something to the driver, and then let the Jeep go on. The checkpoint was at the end of the forest and into the castle complex.

_Time for some answers._

Frank took five minutes to analyze the security checkpoint and found no glaring ways he could be spotted in the dark. He would be like a ghost. There were two guards at the checkpoint. Frank made a mental coin toss and shot the one in the left side in the forehead.

Before the other could make a move or sound an alarm, Frank moved and struck the other with the butt of the silenced MP5. He went down, unconscious. Frank dragged him out and searched his pockets, which revealed pocket litter and a SHIELD badge. He'd have let Maria and Fury deal with this one, but he'd have to suffice with a rudimentary questioning.

When the guard came to his senses, Frank poured a bottle of water on his head. "Do you speak English?"

The guard took a few seconds and said, "Yes, I speak English." It had a thick German accent to it, but it was good enough.

Frank pulled out a knife. "I'm going to ask some questions. Lie or cry for help, and I'll gut you in a heartbeat. Got it?"

He nodded fast.

"What's your name?"

"Eric."

"I found this SHIELD badge. Are you HYDRA?"

"No. I was SHIELD until insight. I went into private contracting."

 _Truth._ "Who do you work for?"

"I don't know."

"How'd you get here?"

"A friend of a friend. He said the pay was good for reasonable hours. I joined, been here for maybe half a year."

 _Truth._ "Who's here besides the guards like yourself?"

"No one." Sensing a lie, Frank stabbed Eric in the thigh while gagging him.

"That's your one free lie. Who's here at Castle Zemo?"

* * *

Steve was now on what Agent- no, Director – Coulson called "the Bus". After Daisy and other SHIELD operatives had come to the rescue, a large Quinjet had swooped down to collect Steve, a wounded Wanda, Coulson, and Bucky (who'd been hiding elsewhere). Sam had also flown to the Bus, with its defenses and advanced shielding keeping War Machine away for the time being.

"Where are we?" asked Wanda, pressing her hand against her forehead. She'd been going in and out of headache ever since the fight in DC.

"Somewhere in the sky," was Steve's reply, caressing to her injuries. She'd suffered a bit at the hands of Black Widow, but nothing that was healable. "Coulson, where are we headed?"

"You're call, Captain," was his reply. "The ATCU have turned on me. Homeland Security is raiding all of my bases for the third time in two years. What's left of my group is scattered around the world."

Steve thought, then nodded. "Alright. Set course for Los Angeles."

"Why?" asked Daisy. "That's even larger than Washington. We'll stick out like a sore thumb-"

"Or hide in plain sight." Steve turned to Sam. "Can you get in contact with Scott Lang from here?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Maybe, but I can make no-"

"Try." He told Sam of the intended plan, who nodded. With that taken care of, Steve's attention turned back to Wanda. Better safe than sorry, Coulson and Daisy had placed her in a special room within the Bus, one that could withstand her telepathic outbursts. "You alright?"

"I try to, Steve." Wanda looked down, never changing her gaze. "Why Natasha? Why her?"

Steve didn't know. "I don't know why. She's like that, weaving her web as she sees fit."

"By harming me?" Wanda suddenly fixed her gaze on Steve, a tint of red in her eyes. Coulson, who'd been watching discreetly, nervously grabbed a gun from his pocket.

"She's never been that person who gets attached. She tried it with Bruce and we both know how that turned out. Don't worry about her, okay? Focus on me." Steve took Wanda's head into his chest, letting her sob as needed. He waved for Coulson to lower his guard.

With any luck, they'd get to LA and figure out a plan until Stark and the government could be sent away.

* * *

"Damn. Goddamnit."

Tony Stark was walking the stairs in the Congress building. It had been turned into a temporary shelter after the recent battle. Failing to get the Captain here and know meant the hydra known as the White House was beaming down on him. Ellis, Rusk, Ross, everyone. Witnesses and potential troublemakers had been sent to this building, where government forces hoped to squeze anything of importance out of them

"We've got one," said a brutish looking ATCU officer. "Matthew Murdock. A lawyer, though he's not what he says he is," The officer's face frowned. "He's said nothing. You wanna try?"

"You bet." Smiling a fake grin, Stark walked into the office where the New York lawyer was being held. He was tied up and two guards posted at the side. "Leave us."

As the guards left, Tony took up his own seat. "I'm not sure what you did was brave, stupid, risky, or all three."

Matt was silent.

"Look, I'll make this simple. Tell me everything you know about where Steve Rogers and Phil Coulson are, and we'll set you free. We may be in touch for… other activities, but that's it."

Still stone faced silence.

"If you refuse, I'm going to have to hand you over to the ATCU, and trust me, you don't want that to happen."

Matt looked with blank eyes at Tony. Or rather, sensed him. Then he spit out something, along with some blood. Tony picked it up and had Friday analyze it: a Morgan silver dollar.

"An old herloom?" asked Stark sardonically. "Guess it's mine now."

"Guess that's thirty pieces of silver you've got now, huh? Sleep tight, Judas."

And that was that. Murdock was taken out by his guards while Tony stared into the abyss. _Is he right? Am I fighting Steve Rogers for the wrong reasons?_

_No, I'm not. If we don't have regulations and checks, we're no better than HYDRA or Loki._

"Tony?"

That was Natasha. The redhead had finished her attempts to trace the Bus, with no success. "It's the latest. They reverse engineered something of yours, and… you know the deal."

"Yeah, yeah," as he went with Romanoff to catch an update from the President and National Security Advisor, Tony found himself still thinking that Rogers could be reasoned with. He'd see the futility of being a stubborn outlaw.

_Would he?_

* * *

Eric gulped. "Six. They work in the main castle, the old dining hall. No one else allowed there."

"Do you know any of them?" asked Frank, who proceeded to keep pressure (not the good kind) on Eric's wound. Now he was confident he was getting the truth out of this turncoat.

"No. Not at all."

This was probably the truth. PMCs were a dime a dozen, ranging from back alley leg breakers to professions with decades of experience. Eric seemed like the latter, a Grant Ward type. He and any others of his kind hired didn't need to know details, just get things done.

"Does the name Hendrik Zemo mean anything to you?" asked Frank.

"I know he worked for SHIELD. And HYDRA, before that."

Frank questioned Eric for another ten minutes, getting any juicy details he could get his hands on. Then he darted him with a tranquilizer and let him rest. Frank began ransacking the checkpoint as silently as possible, taking the laptop and any important looking papers. He found the name Zemo on more than five papers.

Presumably Hendrik Zemo.

The man's link to HYDRA, as well as the Houston attacks, seemed pretty much irrefutable, but things didn't make sense. Why would a former SHIELD/HYDRA legate who'd retreated to his family castle two decades ago orchestrate one of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil in years? Certainty, he had the skills and knowhow to pull it off, but why? What was the motivation? And Russia. Why get her involved?

 _Too many goddamn questions._ He updated his findings to Maria and hoped she could make some sense of it. Two minutes later he got a response from her: Keep going. We don't want the situation getting any worse than it already is.

-What do you mean? What's the latest?

-The USS. George Bush is off the coast of Alaska right now. She'll cross international waters any minute now

Maria appeared to have been interrupted while composing the message. Another minute, and he got another message:

-There's more. A small Russian prototype helicarrier attempted to get into the Bush's airspace. Helicarrier driven off. No known causalities on either side, but the UN is running around like a headless chicken.

 _Escalation,_ thought the Punisher.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut in this one. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and follow me on Twitter at @JokerangWriter for updates and other odd bits.

Steve went back into the sealed room where Wanda was recuperating. With blank white walls and no windows, it was an odd cross of a prison cell and laboratory.

"Please tell me you're doing better," he said.

"I wish it was so, Steve. My mind screams for Natasha, but gets nothing but silence. It's almost like the link has been severed."

"Physically or metaphorically?" Steve still didn't know the full extent of Wanda Maximoff's powers, and was still learning on a case by case basis. With at least another hour till California, he could afford to learn it.

"A little of both." She moved closer to the man she cared for, holding his powerful arms with his her gentle fingers, grasping only lightly. "I do not know how to say it. It is… was… like Pietro, but a little less devastating."

Steve honestly didn't know what to say. He'd already spent several minutes beforehand comforting Wanda over Natasha's "betrayal". Steve didn't like what Romanoff was doing either, but knew she had her reasons. Russia was the new boogeyman in town, and it was not good to be Russian right now.

Of course, none of this meant anything to Wanda, the enhanced Sokovian who'd lost everything and joined the Avengers to find a new meaning in life. Natasha had taken the young woman under her wing, training and preparing her for the realities of being a superhero. Wanda didn't think she could thank the older woman enough.

And what did she get? Betrayed at the first sign of trouble. Attacked with a Taser like she was some HYDRA operative.

"Natasha… it was nothing personal-"

Wanda suddenly grabbed his arms with more force than she had been. "Stop. Ignore her. Screw her. I want to forget it."

"How?" Steve had an uneasy feeling about what she had in mind.

"You know," she said, reading his mind instantly as she came in for a passionate kiss. It had been a while since the two had had this kind of time together, though it had never been taken to the next step.

"Are you sure?" asked Steve, always considerate. And to be fair, it would have been his first time having sex.

"Yes. Yes I am. I want to feel loved. I want you to feel it too. Can you do that?" She subtlely began to undress him of his white T-shirt, which hugged the lines of his muscles flawlessly.

"I'll try," replied Steve, still unsure of himself. _Is this it? Is this the woman mom told me would love me for who I was in the inside?_ Steve asked himself this several times as he kissed Wanda again, stripping her of her clothes quickly. It would have been slower, but he could tell she had been waiting for this moment for a while now. Her breasts were fair sized, and easily fit in his willing and inexperienced hands.

Wanda knew he had much to learn. She, on the other hand, was not a virgin. At the age of nineteen, she'd had a romantic tryst with a boy who was spending the summer from Romania. He was young, fair haired, and everything one could hope for in a partner. Unfortunately, he had to return to his home country. She had tried to keep in touch, but thanks to yet another coup in Sokovia, she never had the time to. Too busy protesting government bullshit.

But that didn't matter anymore. Steve didn't need to know. She'd treat and love him all the same. Steve sighed in awe as Wanda moved herself down his body, kissing his seemingly godly body. She then unzipped his jeans and removed his boxers in quick order.

 _How very well endowed._ Dr. Erskine had truly made the perfect man. And she would be the first to sample it. Lucky her.

It's been almost 70 years (he had a halfway encounter with a French prostitute that Bucky had tossed in his lap), but Steve managed to keep control of himself as she first licked, than engulfed, his member. He sighed again and groaned as he took the experience in, heart pounding faster and faster, coming ever closer to some inevitable conclusion.

When that conclusion came, it was overpowering, like a great tongue of fire. He looks into her eyes with the same look that he gave when he first got a good chance to lay eyes on her. "I love you," he said, not really being able to say anything else.

"As I know you do."

Sure, Steve's not completely naïve when it comes to sexuality and the female anatomy, but the way Wanda whines and squirms under him as they made love for the first time catches him off guard. From cupping her breasts to rocking himself, it was breathtaking, all-powerful. He knew that he was a big guy, and several times he paused to make sure she wasn't getting hurt in the process of finding pleasure. Only when she reassured him for the third time that she was fine did he begin to climax.

Given how fast and how swiftly things had gone, there had been no time for control. _Ah, hell,_ thought Steve as he pounded hard enough to force his seed out of himself and into her. It had taken a lot of energy, but both Steve and Wanda were still relatively… well, not exhausted.

She really is beautiful. Steve delights in everything about Wanda: her dark flowing hair, bright eyes that one could gaze into for days, remarkably pristine skin, all of it put together in a nice figure without any real or noticeable flaws.

It's a sight he's yearned for, and now he got to see it in all its glory.

After Wanda pulls in him for another kiss, Steve asks her, "Are you better now."

"Yes. Yes, I am. You are an amazing man, Steve Rogers."

"I didn't do anything I couldn't. And it was you who asked."

She grins seductively. "Still, without your help, I wouldn't have forgotten-"

Wanda was interrupted by a knock at the door leading to the sealed room. Both of them take a moment to realize they've been making love on an aircraft, and lazily put on some clothes before Steve asked, "yes?"

"It's me, Bucky. We're almost in Los Angeles. And some man named Barton called, he gave an address." Bucky named some place in Beverly Hills; an address and room number.

"Got it." As Steve finished dressing and opened the door, Bucky looked at him in a funny way. It was then that Steve realized that he had what Natasha told him would be called a "hickey". He hesitated to think of something to say. "Well, umm…"

"It's fine. Really. You earned it."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"I'd say saving my life multiple times over seventy years is merit enough."

Steve smiled. "Not nearly as many times you saved me in school." This made Steve happy; to see his old friend be truly a friend again. Steve had no idea about Bucky's time with the KGB and HYDRA, and was aware that he could snap again at any moment.

In their time talking, he didn't even notice that Wanda had quietly slipped out and into the cockpit. It was understandable; she'd never been to Los Angeles, let alone California.

"Bucky," said Steve, doing his best not to push any potential buttons, "what happened in Houston?"

Bucky immediately put his hands in his head, as if he was suffering from some sort of migraine. "Please, don't make me have to-"

"I won't." Steve didn't have to think very hard to know what might happen. He went back to the cockpit to stand behind Wanda as the Bus settled down in an airfield operated by Coulson's people. He rubbed her shoulders and kissed her head as they took in the LA skyline.

He was hers, and she was his. And everyone either knew it or would know it.

* * *

Doing their best to blend in with the celebrities and socialites that inhabited the streets of Beverly Hills, Steve, Wanda, Sam, Coulson, Skye, and Bucky walked in pairs to the hotel where Clint Barton was renting. According to Clint, Scott Lang was also supposed to arrive there, along with a good amount of his toys.

More than once the employees of the hotel made a curiosity inspection, but a simple flick of Wanda's fingers set them on their way. "It should work for at least thirty minutes, maybe a little longer," she said as she and Steve got in the elevator and headed to the sixth floor. "I never really got the chance to test myself on live people."

"Do your best," was Steve's optimistic reply as the elevator door opened and they headed to room 616. Inside were Coulson, Daisy, Bucky, and Sam, all who arrived beforehand. Also there were Clint and another man that Steve had never seen before. According to Sam, this was Scott Lang, who dubbed himself the "Ant-Man".

Scott got up out of his chair and began to enthusiastically shake Steve's hand. "Scot Lang," he said in an almost eerily gleeful voice. "I know you guys know a lot of super people, so thinks of thanking of me…sorry, meant thanks for thinking of me!"

"What's your dog in the fight?" said Sam, wanting to cut to the chase.

"I got a little girl. Almost lost her the hard way. If I have to register and be sent from one shithole to another in service, I can't protect her like I have for the past few months." Lang stared out more seriously into the window. "Also, the man who gave me this suit and his wife have no interest in having to work for another Stark. I think he knew Howard Stark. Never spoke well of him. No offense, Cap."

"None taken. Now, what can you do for us?"

"Oh boy," said Barton in an excited. "You need to check this shit out." Without warning, Barton threw an arrow in a second. Any other time or place, and it should have split Scott's skull in two. But in that split second, Scott pressed a button on his waist and he… well, disappeared.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Daisy.

"Down here!" was the reply. It was very hard to hear, but it could be heard. The others gathered to see a miniaturized Scott Lang, about the size of an ant crawling next to him. "And this isn't the only thing I can do! I can get a lot bigger, but I don't want to bring the roof down on us."

Scott returned to normal size, then began pulling out a bunch of fake passports and cash from his pockets. "Hid these at miniature size. Figured we'd need them on our little journeys?"

"Journeys?"

"Get out of the country, maybe head to Canada, and then find out who's behind this mess." Scott's eyes turned to Bucky. "It wasn't you, right? That's who the news people keep saying it was.

"No."

"Ah, good." While Scott began going over details with Coulson and Sam, Steve turned his attentions to Clint. "You here for the same reasons as this Ant-Man?"

"Yep. I don't trust any registration act anyways. Stark actually sent me a nicely worded email trying to persuade me to join him. "Barton's phone buzzed, and he checked it briefly. "That would be the tenth time he tried to contact me. Persistent ass."

"Don't blame him, Clint. He's just doing his job."

"Except it's not a job for him," said Clint in a defensive tone. "He's doing it because he wants to, goddamnit."

"Maybe so. But he feels responsible for a lot that's gone down over the last two years, for better or worse. Best we can do is one day show him the error of his ways, going after his former friends like he has."

That didn't satisfy Barton, but he didn't say anything back either. His attentions turned to Wanda, sitting on a recliner.

"You ok?" he asked her. Having made love to her for the first time just hours before, Steve found small talk incredibly difficult.

"They're coming," she said suddenly, and without warning, a police officer kicked down the door. "LAPD! Put your hands-"

The unlucky officer was thrown out of the room by Daisy. "How the hell did they find us?!" she asked angrily.

Steve didn't know. There wasn't an informant in their group, was there? "Alright, let's get-"

"More in the stairs!" yelled Sam, who was running down the hall from the ice machine. "LAPD SWAT, by the looks of it. Like they knew we were all here for the picking."

Steve looked into both sides of the hallway. SWAT teams were indeed storming the floor, methodically checking each section of the hallway for their targets.

"Fuck this," said Bucky suddenly, running towards a window in the hotel room. "I'm not going back." The window shattered with a great crash, and Bucky began attempting to control his descent down towards the street. Steve wouldn't have done it, but it _was_ a way out. Besides, everyone in the hotel would have been alerted by this point. No point in trying to maintain anonymity.

"Wanda, grab Coulson," yelled Steve as he took his shield and made another jump down into the street. This wasn't his first time: He'd had to do this out of the Triskelion elevator when Rumlow was sent to capture him. Thankfully, he landed fully on the shield when he came bouncing on the land below him. Bucky was to his right, while Barton was rappelling down via his bow and arrows. Sam, Wanda, and Coulson were on the adjacent rooftop, and could easily get down. As for Scott, he'd shrunken and taken a ride on Barton's shoulder.

But the escape was short lived. As soon as the others came down, at least fifty SWAT members surrounded them. They would have attacked, but their orders were obviously not to harm.

They then made way for three figures. One was clad in a blue and red suit, somewhat resembling a spider. The others were Tony Stark and James Rhodes.

"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect little teeth," said Stark.

* * *

Frank was awoken by the buzzing of his phone. He'd found a secluded enough tunnel to nap in for thirty minutes when duty called, again.

_Thinking of you. There's someone sending a signal from the main dining hall of the castle. May want to check it out. MH_

_Nice of you to think of me,_ thought Frank as he recovered his senses and began moving down the tunnel. Always one mystery after the other, wasn't it?

If Frank was correct, this particular tunnel led to a room that served as the basement of the east wing of the castle. He'd spent two hours along getting her without complications. This had better have been worth it. Eventually he found what he was looking for: a secret door that led out of the tunnel and into the basement. Some sort of small mausoleum was in the center of the basement.

A closer inspection revealed Nordic style carvings, as well as various symbols of German nationalism and at least two HYDRA skulls-in-tentacles. _Almost like a dual grave for Loki and Alexander Pierce._ Another day, another time.

A ladder led to the dining hall. Peeking from below, Frank saw that it was massive, and there were at least five rows of computers and monitors, all centered on various parts of the world. The monitor of the signal Maria was talking about then got closer. And closer. And closer.

It was a man walking.

Frank checked to see that there was no one else in the vicinity, and then snatched the man, dragging him down to the basement of the castle. "Not a sound," warned Frank.

"Okay, okay…" The man's voice was definitely British, and he wasn't exactly hostile. "Shut up and put your back to the tomb."

The man complied.

"We're going to make this simple. You've been transmitting a signal that can be picked up by both CIA and former SHIELD frequencies."

"No, I haven't-"

"Yes you have. If I had a problem with your signal, you'd be dead by now. The fact you're still breathing should tell you something. And I don't have time to waste on you." Frank pulled out his gun and leveled it at the Englishman's forehead.

"Easy mate, here it is." The man pulled out from his back pocket a phone looking device that was clearly much more than a two way machine.

"Clever," said Frank, amused. "Yours?"

"No, my boss gave it to me."

 _And his name would be Phil Coulson, wouldn't it?_ "Fair enough, I'm going to put my gun away. What's your name?"

"Lance Hunter." Lance hadn't shaved in a week, and his eyes were red rimmed and baggy. That wasn't just from a lack of sleep, thought Frank. He'd clearly been under an immense amount of stress for a while.

"What's your job here?" asked Frank bluntly.

"You mean, what I do here, or what I do for SHIELD?"

"The latter."

"For the past few weeks, I've been feeding them information about Baron Helmut Zemo."

Frank felt like he'd just swallowed a ball of nails. "Say that name again."

"Baron Helmut Zemo?"

And suddenly a huge piece of the puzzle had been snapped into place.


	12. Zemo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have really got to post the rest of this sooner. I hope people are still reading. If you are, leave a comment!

Helmut Zemo was the missing piece. He was Germany's imported anarcho-terrorist on internet steroids.

After a ten year rise up the automated collective of online hacktivist groups, "the Baron" Helmut Zemo had reigned supreme as de facto head of Anonymous, rogue elements of the Chinese Red Hacker Alliance, and the Syrian Electronic Army, all under the alias of Citizen V. Politics, terrorism, nuclear weapons, human trafficking – there wasn't an issue or idea that the Baron and his army of hacktivists couldn't exploit to their own interests. They'd claimed responsibility for various HYDRA attacks and the destruction of Pym Technoogies.

Their main claim to fame, however, came as a result of defaming one of the British princes in the line of succession to the point that a protestor firebombed his house. British police began arresting Zemo's hackers in scores. However, not long after that, the assistant director of MI5 was kidnapped and later killed; burned alive.

That answered the _who_ to Frank's questions. Helmut and his online army (probably enhanced by actual soldiers) could certainly pull enough strings to arrange for the recent events. However, the connection with Hendrik Zemo and HYDRA remained murky. "What do you do here, Lance?"

"Various odd jobs. I've been burned out infiltrating other HYDRA cells. Figured this one didn't know who the bloody hell I was."

Now that was important. "HYDRA? This is one of their bases?"

The Englishman nodded. "Yes, mate. Helmut Zemo is the leader of what I think is the largest cell of HYDRA yet uncovered. It's got jurisdiction over all of Europe, the Balkan's was Strucker's until his death. After that, Helmut Zemo's cell absorbed it."

"I thought this castle was _Hendrik_ Zemo's."

"It was." Lance put his hand on the stone tomb, and pointed behind him. Frank could see at least ten more thoroughly carved tombs, hidden in the shadows. "You're looking at the resting place of the man himself. From what I could dig up, he died of natural causes in 2004. A memorial to dear departed daddy."

Frank scratched his head. "So let me get this straight: the man behind the simultaneous crowdsourced protests in Pakistan, Crimea, and Brazil is the new head of HYDRA?"

Lance shrugged his shoulders. "In case you haven't noticed, the competition for leadership's been going down. Pierce, Strucker, Whitehall, Ward… far more than that."

"And Zemo senior was still a leader after his retirement?"

"Oh yes. The insanity stories were a cover. Hendrik Zemo knew he could do far more if everyone believed he was sitting on his couch, twiddling his thumbs. Trained his son to take his place one day as well."

Frank began running scenarios in his head. Hendrik Zemo must have accidently exposed his HYDRA activities in the 1980s one way or another, so he faked insanity and retreated to his ancestral castle. From there he kept in touch with Pierce and the other HYDRA leaders in America, all while raising his son Helmut to take the reins of the terrorist group in the next century.

With that being absorbed, Frank thought that Lance deserved to know everything that was at stake. "Did you hear about what happened in Texas or Wakanda?"

"Saw them on BBC, yeah."

"I think Zemo's behind that. He got his hands on some Russian dissenters, as well as the Winter Soldier. He's also been shipping tons of smuggled vibranium weapons from Wakanda. Either of those ring a bell to you?"

"Sort of. I only handle bits and pieces of what goes on here. I do one thing, another person does another…" Lance made circles with his hands to demonstrate.

"Compartmentalization. I doubt you see Zemo that much."

"Yep. I had a chance to kill him once, you know. Maybe I should have."

Frank put a hand on the other man's shoulders. He couldn't let the stress get to Lance. "Maybe so. But for now, we could use your eyes and ears here. Is there anything important the CIA and I need to know?"

Lance nodded. "Two weeks ago a huge stack of important papers came my way. I made copies on that phone you've got. Get what you need from it and give it back."

"What's on them?"

"The most recent thing is one of HYDRA's moles in the US meeting with a Russian I've never heard of. Might be the guy behind the Houston attack. The mole, on the other hand, I got a name and profile picture of."

"Who was it?"

"His name's Henry Gyrich."

Frank's stomach turned. Gyrich had been at the facility in upstate New York for months. Was he really using all that time to spy for HYDRA? "Prove it."

"Here, check out this file." Lance Hunter pulled up the photo of the FBI agent. "Sounds like this bugger was positioned very close to home,"

"Very. What else is of importance?"

"The vibranium weapons you were talking about?" I think there's a list of weapons that matches what you're looking for."

As Frank scrolled through the list, he knew that the African smuggler hadn't been lying. Most of the weapons were state of the art and perfected versions of the original material: stolen Pym particles, targeting systems adapted from Project Insight helicarriers, numerous Chitauri gliders and energy phasers, vibranium versions of the HK416 assault rifle and CZ Scorpion EVO 3 submachine gun, and at least fifty salvaged Ultron drones. All of these came with hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, made of pure vibranium.

"Christ," muttered Frank. Whoever won the auctions for these weapons would become first world powers overnight. "Suffice to say we can't let these get away from us?"

"Suffice, I agree. Plus, you need to stop that war from blowing up in the Bering Strait."

"I'll see to that, after I pay Gyrich a personal visit. But first: how do I get out of this damn castle?"

* * *

"How the hell did you find us?" was the first thing that came to Steve Rogers. Coulson had done his best to cover tracks on the journey here. So what trick did Stark have up his sleeve this time?

Tony opened the visor on his suit and yawned. "I normally don't do this sort of thing, but check under your shield, Cap."

Steve did, and found a small circular device the size of a penny attached to it. He pulled it off for a closer inspection. Meanwhile, the rest of his group stared off into the legion of SWAT facing them. Another standoff.

"Impressive, isn't it?" asked Stark with a grin. "Natasha's work, not mine, to be precise. I finalized it, to be certain. It attaches to any metal, in this case, vibranium-"

Steve wasn't interested in what tracking device had led Stark here. He threw it on the ground and was about to smash it with his foot when a long white thread came out of the hand of the spider man, and retracted back to him. He, in turn, gave it back to Stark.

"I think I forgot to introduce you two. Peter Parker, meet Captain America. Steve, meet who we call the Spiderman-"

"Stark, if oyu're going to try to arrest me, go ahead and try. Or you can wreck half of LA in the process, all over your stupid registration act and Sokovia Accords."

Stark's smile faded and he crossed his arms. "Look Cap, we know this is a hard time for you, Sam, and the rest of you guys. So we have an alternate deal in place."

Steve looked in stone silence.

"As you know, DoD wants both Bucky and Wanda in our custody and the rest of you detained until we can be assured that y'all won't go around causing trouble unregulated. However, I spoke to Rusk and Ross, and they finally agreed to a compromise. Steve, we'll let you go without any charges, and the Avengers can still stand. However, we still need to take someone in. Public opinion isn't kind to Captain America right now.

"I'm offering you a choice, Cap. Hand over either Bucky or Wanda, and I'll let the rest of your merry lot go free. Seriously. I leave the decision of which one to you."

Jesus Christ. Steve would have refused to give up any of his team, but especially not those two.

Bucky was his last connection to the lost word of the 1940s, his one closest friend. He was a good person under all the decades of being a programmed assassin. To betray him would be akin to selling his mother to the devil.

Wanda was even more than that to Steve. Wanda… was one of those people that he could actually relate to on many levels. He remembered telling Natasha that it was hard to find someone with shared life experience. When he finally found one, he held onto her and pretty much didn't let go.

Losing her was not an option either. "Neither."

"Really Cap? Because the alternative is to-"

Stark didn't finish. He couldn't; not with the red hex Wanda had sent him, striking him with the equivalent of a major migraine. This set the SWAT into action, running towards Steve's group. However, yet another surprise was in the bag.

Without warning, Scott Lang emerged. It was hard to miss him; he had grown at least several hundred feet tall. Somehow, he was still wearing the same ant-like suit. "Hi guys! Nice thinking with the whole magic trick, Wanda!"

Wanda would had thanked him, but there was still War Machine to chase her. Spiderman and the vast majority of the SWAT chased the gigantic Scott, leaving Steve mostly to himself. A couple of SWAT attempted to take him down but a few well-placed kicks and punches sent them away, often crashing into buildings.

Steve didn't feel like fighting Tony right now. Instead, he went upwind of the commotion, in the opposite direction of Ant-Man. He figured that a giant would attract more buzz and attention that a regular Captain America sighting. Once he'd taken a few twists and turns through Beverly Hills, he found an upscale clothing store and took a five minute break to change into new clothes, along with a sports bag to hide the shield and a Dodgers cap and aviators to hide his face from those away of his fugitive status.

He'd gotten three steps out of the store when his phone vibrated. It was Natasha. Steve wondered what the hell she was doing trying to call him, but decided what the hell, and answered it. A mobile was harder to trace than a landline, and Steve doubted that Stark and his government goons could track it in time if the call was short enough. "Well, speak."

"Steve, I know you don't see me as an ally right now-"

"You're damn right about that, after what you did to Wanda."

"Don't remind me. She must have given me two more Red Room dreams. I can never remember."

Steve sighed. He knew Natasha didn't like being reminded of her dark past. "I'm sorry it happened, but some of it is your fault as well."

"Whatever. You need to hear me out. If you continue to fight like this, you'll only hurt yourself. I know how much Bucky and Wanda mean to you."

"Actually, you don't."

"Please, stay out of this one. For everyone. It won't be as bad as you're making it out to be."

"You're asking me to give up my best friend and the woman I love so that they can get certain death sentences."

"No, that's not going to happen-"

"Ok, life imprisonment and experimentation. They deserve better than that."

"They're not going to be punished, if that's what you're thinking. I think Bucky may be someone from the Red Room, called the Asset."

Steve didn't believe her, but decided to hear her out. If Natasha was somewhere in Los Angeles as well, it would keep her busy.

"The Asset was a prized Soviet assassin given to the Red Room to train Black Widows like myself. I was the only one that could keep up with him. Over time, we became romantically involved and intimate, but as it is with me, nothing lasts forever. He was wiped, relocated, and I never saw him again until he popped up in Washington."

"Yeah, and Sharon Carter is my granddaughter."

"Steve, I know you won't believe it. But I'm concerned about Wanda and Bucky too. If you truly want what's best for them, then-"

Something happened on the other side. Steve listened as he heard (or he thought it was) Clint Barton's angry voice. The connection went dead from there. Steve reckoned that Barton had found Natasha and was now fighting her. A rare sight for the Black Widow and Hawkeye to fight each other, but that was what happened when push came to shove.

Moving on, Steve walked briskly though the streets, doing everything he could not to draw attention to himself. He did notice one other person appearing to keep an eye on him; tracking movements, directions, and such.

It was only after another look that it was, in fact, Bucky. Like Steve, he'd changed clothes and donned sunglasses and a cap. "We need to move," said Bucky, without looking at Steve, as a television in a window of a store reported a giant man causing havoc in Century City.

Steve just hoped Wanda made it through the mess alright. He prayed Stark didn't get his hands on her.

* * *

_USS_ _William Tecumseh Sherman_ _, several thousand feet above sea level, Fort Campbell_

After passing through the last five security clearances, Frank was finally in the damned helicarrier. It had taken the rest of the night to make his way out of Castle Zemo without tripping any alarms. Lance Hunter was to thank for that. He'd slipped under the mausoleum once again and went the opposite way, disabling everything he needed to.

After that, it was a DoD Quinjet ride away from home. He'd napped on the way back.

The helicarrier itself was another dozen slabs of grey and black mixed with various American logos painted over the old SHIELD logos. Rusk wanted no trace of HYDRA on his ship. The ship's crew, dressed in navy style camouflage, ran, walked, and even hoverboarded their way to work on America's new flagship, the USS William Tecumseh Sherman (the first proposed name, USS Winfried Scott Hancock, was deemed as being named after someone now commited enough to the central government). Some monitored the manhunt for Captain America in Beverly Hills, while others kept track of Russian movements in the Pacific and Bering Strait. The nearest group of operators were focused on the local conditions below them.

"Where's Maria Hill's office?" Frank asked the nearest operator.

"Down that hall, and third to right."

"Thanks."

While Frank walked down, he caught a bit of news on the current situation, playing on a TV: "…President Ellis is outraged over Citizen V's leaked memo alleging the Houston attacks and over a dozen cyberattacks over the past year were secretly ordered by the Kremlin." An image of a man in a purple mask appeared, and he began speaking in German. Half of the staff on the floor were watching with interest.

_Baron Zemo, you crafty son of a bitch. After all the shit Russia's pulled off over the years, this time they're innocent. But no one will believe it. Unless I can do anything about it._

As soon as he walked in the office, he closed the door and locked it behind him. Maria, who'd been sorting through false Avenger sightings (the reward for information leading to Steve Rogers was now about $500,000 and increasing daily), looked alarmed. Sharon, working from a desk across the room, was equally shocked

"Not every day you act so secretive."

Frank emptied his pockets of the flash drives he'd gotten from Lance and said softly, "Is Henry Gyrich aboard this ship?"

Maria shook her head.

"Good. He isn't the dimwitted FBI agent we thought he was. He's been spying for HYDRA. It's all on this." He tossed the first of the flash drives to Maria, who plugged it into her laptop and began looking at the contents.

Sharon looked on eagerly too. As the CIA's equivalent to Gyrich in regards to the Avengers, she'd worked with the man on multiple occasions.

After a few minutes, she fumed. "I'll be damned. It's Gyrich, through and through."

"Exactly. Who better to keep tabs on all of us?"

"Rusk needs to see this-"

"Um, no." Frank put a hand up. "He'll scatter if he notices a large consignment of ATCU troops headed towards his location. Where is he now, if not here?"

Maria pretended to think. She still didn't believe Gyrich was really that bad of a person. "A cabin near Denver. He's on vacation."

"And I'll ruin it. He needs to be broken before anyone else gets a swing at him."

Maria sighed. She could have sworn this was another bad decision. "At least take Sharon with you. I trust her, and so can you." Sharon went back to her desk and took out a gun.

Frank looked around. "Why don't you come along? You're not doing anything important here anyways. Let those grunts on the level below us do your work."

"I can't," said Maria with a straight face. Though she was clearly hiding something.

"Don't give me that bull."

Maria stepped closer to Frank. Intimacy distance. "I already told Sharon, don't shoot daggers at her. Frank… I'm pregnant."


	13. Means to an End

"I'm pregnant."

Frank didn't know what to say after hearing those two words. He'd heard them before, but that was when his wife and he were planning on having children and starting a brand new family. This pregnancy, however, was completely unexpected.

He could tell that Maria had been stressing herself out over the knowledge and he immediately held her gently in his arms. "That's wonderful. I never thought I'd be a father again." In truth he didn't know what to think of the news either, but at least he had some experience in childrearing. She had next to none.

As expected, his words didn't really have an impact on Maria. "But… I don't know what to do or what's going to happen. I didn't expect-"

Frank then cupped her face in her hands. "I didn't expect either. But you'll be fine. You'll make an excellent mother. I wouldn't be with you if I didn't think otherwise." That seemed to calm her down a little bit, though she still seemed unsure of herself.

"I don't know, Frank. I was never raised with the understanding that I was going to be a normal woman, rather one that had to work for herself. I know nothing of motherhood or childbirth or anything."

"Like I said, you'll be a fine mother. Anyone who gives you shit about the pregnancy will have to answer to me." Frank kissed her softly on the forehead and rubbed her back. Clearly, this was the most confused she'd been about life in a very long time.

A few minutes later, when Maria was calmed down, Frank got the details: she'd gotten the suggestion that she might be pregnant from Sharon, who noticed the older woman had begun feeling more fatigued and nauseated in the past week, and it wasn't difficulty adjusting to helicarrier rides stress from work. After getting a positive pregnancy test, Maria and Sharon put two and two together.

"We think it's about six weeks," said Sharon. "She's holding up pretty strong for a first time pregnancy. I know I probably wouldn't."

"Oh you would," said Maria weakly.

"Doesn't matter," said Frank. "You only do what your body tells you to do. If that means taking the week off to nap, do it. I want the best for the baby and if Rusk comes knocking tell him to kiss my ass."

Maria smiled. "That's the Frank Castle I fell for. Nevertheless, I'm good enough to stay here and toss papers around. You and Sharon go find out what Gyrich's part in all this mess is."

"Already on it," said Frank darkly. "You remember to take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will," she said back, a renewed gaze of hope on her face. Any fears of pregnancy on the outside had been, at least to Frank and Sharon, wiped away.

* * *

The cabin in the woods was a good three stories high, and looked like it had been designed by I. M. Pei. _The man certainly knew how to live in luxury_ , thought Frank as he and Sharon set down the Quinjet in a field not far from their designation. They had to walk a distance in the woods, but it was nothing the two of them couldn't handle.

"I don't know why you have to wear that skull balaclava," said Sharon as they watched the luxury vacation home for any security. So far there was none spotted. Sharon tossed the binoculars back to Frank.

"Intimidation," said Frank from under the cloth mask. "Put fear in his soul. Besides, I like the mask. Tell Ghost to make more of them."

Sharon rolled her eyes as the two of them approached the door. Still, no guards. So Frank silently opened the door and began searching room to room when he finally found a guard.

"Hey guys, we've got company-"

Frank put a bullet in him with his silenced M4 before he could even grab one of the many rifles lying next to him in the kitchen. Another guard came down the stairs, but Sharon shot him in the head as soon as he was aware of the full danger.

Having alerted any other potential guards, Frank and Sharon took their time examining the second floor: guest bedrooms, a full gym, and a fancy bathtub, but no more guards. "They could be barricading on the last floor," suggested Frank, "trying to protect their precious cargo." Indeed they were, as the two of them heard muffled voices.

Two more guards were on the third level, which were easily dispatched with a grenade. Sharon found Gyrich in a couch in a living room adorned with bookshelves and numerous racks for DVDs, containing whole seasons of popular shows such as Breaking Bad and Sherlock. Currently on the wide plasma screen TV was How I Met Your Mother. "Guess you're never find out who the mother is," remarked Sharon sarcastically.

"Sharon?! Frank?! What the hell is this?" Gyrich's voice was a melting pot of fear and confusion. Frank thought it was faked.

"I hoped they paid you well, Gyrich, because you won't last long enough to enjoy this place for much longer."

Sensing that Frank's mind was made up, Henry's attentions turned to Sharon. "Sharon, it's me! Whatever he said about me, it's lies, all of it!"

Sharon wasn't impressed. "And considering the alternative is that you betrayed us all… and for what? This vacation home? Power?"

Gyrich couldn't answer, though he was very visibly trembling. From fear of Sharon, Frank, or both couldn't be told. "Watch him," said Frank as he went back to the second floor for more ideas for interrogation. He seriously doubted that senior FBI agents, even cowardly ones, were likely to crack under normal techniques. He needed something a bit more extreme.

He found one in the set of forty and fifty pound dumbbells in the gym. The vacation home perched just above a large lake, and considering Gyrich supposedly had a fear of drowning, it would work very well.

Now he had to bring Sharon on to the idea. She reminded him of a female Captain America. Not sure why, but that meant that what he was about to do would cause her to protest.

Not that he expected it to be that big of a deal.

* * *

"Your abracadabra doesn't scare me anymore, little witch." Tony Stark had begun to implement the more heavy-handed countermeasures integrated into his new Bleeding Edge armor. The armor was first designed as a last resort, in case each and every one of the Avengers turned on him. It didn't have anything against Vision (who thankfully was staying out of the fight by devoting himself to humanitarian aid in Africa. If Vision was on the Captain's side, Stark would have his hands full), but it could, he hoped, defeat everyone else in a fair fight.

It did seem to hold its own against Wanda, as every red hex in the air was quickly surrounded and dissolved by a cloud of nanobots detached from the main source on Stark's armor.

"Perhaps," she said. "Or maybe you're too busy fighting yourself."

"Do explain."

"I saw your dream," said Wanda with an air of futility. "I saw you fail to save everyone, everything. You support this act in favor of unity, but your actions bring nothing but discord."

"Actually," replied Stark, who launched his own array of flechette rockets, "that would be you and Star Spangled breaking up the team. I just provide common sense advice. You choose to ignore it. And I wonder how much influence you really hold over Cap."

"The good Captain chooses his own destiny, regardless of what I do." Wanda easily deflected the explosives with a wave of her fingers. "And it's not me you want, do you? You want Bucky."

"I want fugitives from the law brought to justice, thank you very much. Do you know what he did? How many people the Winter Soldier has killed? Brainwashed or not, you can't just let that go away lightly."

Wanda saw it. The same rage she felt when her parents died. Rage and revenge against those who took everything from you. Except Stark got to inherit a billion dollar company. She and Pietro were left with nothing. How dare he try to compare his petty grievances to her suffering.

"Will it make you feel better?" she taunted, letting down her defenses and inviting him to apprehend her. "Steve will never give up the one person he knows the longest. He's his friend." Wanda hoped Stark would take the bait. All she needed now was time.

Stark opened up his visor and grabbed her, taking both of them to ground level. "So was I." He turned to Rhodes, who was almost finished restraining Falcon. Frankly, a Falcon suit was no match for an Iron Man suit wielded by an Air Force colonel. "What next?" asked Rhodes.

"We'll get him," said Stark, noticing how the battle was going in his favor: the giant Ant Man was being chased off to an area of the city where he could be contained, while a group of ATCU soldiers surrounded Phil Coulson's location.

* * *

Steve and Bucky, after much trouble, had made their way to the outskirts of Venice Beach. There was plenty to get lost in here, and they could wait it out. News of Scott Lang had not yet reached this area of L.A., and the civilians were for the most part going about their business, whether that happened to be skateboarding, shopping, or enjoying the mild temperatures of the beach itself.

Suddenly, he bumped into a businessman in a normal outfit, and Steve accidently ended up grabbing the man's papers. It was soon clear that it was a message:

_Sorry for having to do it this way. If you want to see Wanda again, you and Bucky might want to head on over to the tower from Die Hard. –Nat_

"The hell is this?" asked a confused Bucky.

"It's a message from Romanoff," said Steve. "Redhead. You know who I'm talking about?"

Bucky raised an eyebrow. Steve knew he only did that particular eyebrow when he heard the name of a girl he was interested. Perhaps Natasha's story about her and Bucky being lovers had some root in reality.

"Good. Let's go."

Century City had been moderately damaged from Ant Man's walk in the park, so to speak, and the local emergency teams were just getting started to set up. Consequently, there was little opposition for Steve and Bucky to make their way into the plaza. Fox Plaza was completed in 1987 and serves as the headquarters for 20th Century Fox. It is best known for being Nakatomi Plaza in the first Die Hard movie, and this was used by Natasha in a test of Steve's cultural appreciation.

Steve found what he was looking for right in front of the skyscraper: a rather beat-up looking Natasha Romanoff, doing her best to maintain a straight face and steady gait.

"Now what?" was Steve's first question. "Did Barton go too hard on you?"

Bucky snickered.

"Not at all," Romanoff replied with equal venom. "He'll be released back at his farm to stay with his family and end his involvement in this petty crusade, if that's what you feel this is."

"Guess you never heard of George Washington and Ben Franklin. Then again, you had the Russian Revolution and not the American one."

Natasha blinked. "I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that. In any case, you might want to look behind you."

Steve and Bucky did, and saw Stark in his armor, bringing Wanda Maximoff with him. "Cap. You seem a little defensive."

"Let her go."

"I will. But first, I'm going to give you one last chance to see the error of your ways. And here's my peace offering. Run along, witch."

She did just that. In fact, she flew herself to Steve's arms, slamming into him with a kiss. He was in no mood to stop her. After all, he had no idea what she'd done to be caught by Tony Stark in the first place.

"Um, am I watching a future episode of TMZ or not?" asked an annoyed Stark. "We have national security to discuss."

Before breaking the embrace, Wanda whispered something into Steve's ear as if she knew (she probably did) that Steve was wondering how she'd gotten captured in the first place. Only then did Steve say to Stark. "Go ahead. State a flawed and tired argument you know I won't agree with."

"If we can't accept limitations, we're no better than the bad guys." Stark knew he was sounding like a broken record, but he still believed in what he was saying.

"Says the man who diverts half of LAPD into trying to apprehend me."

"Considering one of your friends turned into a giant and is probably going to cause billions in destruction, I'd say that's a far tradeoff."

"Doesn't the president have a war to stop? Matthew Ellis has his hands full, last I heard."

"Nope, just keeping Russia in check. The main problem is you." While arguing with Steve Rogers, Tony became unaware that Bucky was slowly moving behind him, attempting to circle him. Wanda had told Steve that she'd secretly weakened his senses. Normally, he'd catch Bucky moving behind him, but currently…

It was an odd scene to see the two Avengers, once beloved teammates, face off against each other. Each man could not be moved by the other, no matter how hard they tried. Natasha and Wanda also circled each other on opposite sides, though their focus was on the main attraction of Steve Rogers and Tony Stark.

"Don't make me have to do something I'd rather not," warned Steve.

"Oh please. I'd tell you the exact same thing-"

Bucky struck, hitting Stark's armor with all the strength of his mechanical arm. Stark fell, stumbled into a Mercedes that went flying, and attempted to recover. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed. "Thank God the Bleeding Edge was designed to counter that shit."

He didn't get the chance to recover. Steve attacked as well, hitting all the weak points that he knew about Iron Man armor. The problem was, the Bleeding Edge was also designed to withstand people with super soldier serum too. For how long was unknown, but Stark was determined to fight as long as necessary to detain Steve and Bucky. There could be no truce now.

Wanda began to conjure up another hex to take out Stark, but she'd failed to notice Natasha coming up behind her with a dart gun. The Black Widow had picked out a horse tranquilizer, the same type used to sedate Bucky just a few days before, and Wanda was knocked out before she even had chance to respond. Natasha dragged Wanda out, hoping Steve and Stark and Bucky (damn him) would be too busy fighting each other.

This wasn't just about the team anymore.

* * *

"I got all the papers in the office," said Sharon as she stuffed them into a backpack found in the first floor. "I'm just wondering why Gyrich is tied to all those dumbbells."

"Wait and see," was Frank's reply. He walked the loaded down turncoat out of the house and into an expensive fishing boat called _Polyphemus_ at a nearby pier, Sharon following close behind. Frank sailed the boat to the middle of the lake and then shut it off.

"Hey? Where are we?" Gyrich was blindfolded and couldn't see exactly where he was.

"I'm here. Sharon's here."

"What do you want?"

Frank crudely removed the blindfold. "We've been through that. I'm going to ask you some questions. If you don't give me the answers I want, you're going to die at the bottom of that lake." Frank was very sure that the weights would be enough to drown Gyrich if need be. "No more Breaking Bad, no more How I Met Your Mother. Understood?"

"You can't do this to me!"

Frank pulled out a knife and made a two inch cut on Gyrich's thigh, cutting his suit and causing him to bellow. "How about that? Can I do that?"

"You're fucking crazy!"

Sit here and face the water." Frank pointed to a specific spot on the boat.

"What?"

"You have three seconds." Gyrich quickly complied.

"Three weeks ago you had house guests." That was according to Lance Hunter's intel. "Brock Rumlow and two HYDRA bodyguards, and a Russian man with his own guards. What did they talk about?"

"I-I don't know."

That was true. Lance's papers indicated a closed door meeting. "How long?"

"Three hours, maybe." In truth, Frank didn't care about how long the meeting was. Rather, he was getting a feel of Gyrich, establishing a baseline. Time for the real Q and A.

"Who is the Russian man?" Before Gyrich could give an answer, Frank took his knife and placed it within a hair of Gyrich's nostrils. Sharon looked alarmed.

"Don't… don't cut off my nose…"

"Give me the Russian man's name."

Gyrich hesitated and slammed his eyes shut. "I don't know, please…"

Frank repositioned his knife so that it was at Gyrich's crotch. "Do you want to reconsider your answer?"

"Frank…" Sharon warned. In all her time at first SHIELD and then the CIA she'd never had to resort to torture. Admittedly, she'd been at a desk job most of the time, with occasional trips for work, but still.

"I don't know who he is, I swear. He showed up with Rumlow and-"

Frank put the blindfold back on. "Take a deep breath."

"Why?"

"Your oxygen supply might last longer once I dump your worthless carcass in the lake."

"Frank, enough!" snapped Sharon.

"Calm down blondie, he'll break soon enough." Indeed, Gyrich was basically sobbing for mercy. Frank let him do this for about half a minute, then said, almost like a parent calming down his infant child, "Do you want to change your answer? Do you want to tell me who the Russian man is?"

"L-Lukin. Aleksander Lukin! Now please, take me off of here!"

Frank took of the blindfold, then began driving the _Polyphemus_ back to the pier. "Sharon is going to ask you some more questions. Answer them."

A dumbfounded Sharon Carter began questioning her old partner. Once he'd given all the information he knew, Frank knocked him out and carried him to their Quinjet.

"So how does it feel to be a father again?" Sharon asked out of the blue to Frank.

Frank shrugged his shoulders and dropped Gyrich off. "Don't know what to tell you. I never could give an answer with my first two kids. Someone told me to use the word _overjoyed_ , but that isn't part of the feeling."

"I'm just happy for you and Maria, that's all."

Frank raised an eyebrow.

"I've never seen her seem so unsure of herself," continued Sharon. "You'll need to be strong for her. You know, having had kids and all that."

Frank nodded and began flying back to the Sherman. Halfway there, Sharon asked him another question: "Would you really do it? Leave him to drown, that is."

"Interrogation's an art, Sharon. That's how the SEALs I worked with viewed it. You have to stuff parts of your minds in boxes to make it work. As for the part that would have thrown him off the boat..."

Frank gave another shrug of shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other news, there's a rumor going about that Wanda/Steve might just appear in Civil War. Amazing how life happens sometimes, doesn't it?


	14. Map of Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story's my baby, so comment on what you liked? You'll make my day.
> 
> -Jokerang/Space Shark

Frankly, this was a mess.

Frank and Sharon surprised – no, stunned – everyone by the way Henry Gyrich was brought onto the William Sherman: gagged, bound, and bleeding from multiple areas. Frank dragged the semiconscious traitor across the bridge as Sharon preceded him, sending sharp looks to anyone raising an eyebrow.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Secretary of Defense Rusk was looking very angry, and unlike everyone else on the bridge he wasn't intimidated by Frank or Sharon. Maria was there, surprisingly. Frank could have sworn he told her to go get some rest or something. Also, for some reason, Secretary Ross was there.

"What does it look like I'm doing? My job."

Ross was the next to speak. "You can't just drag an FBI agent like this into America's flagship."

Frank's voice rose. "You mean this piece of shit traitor I found selling us all out to HYDRA? Yeah, that's him." Frank kicked Gyrich onto his knees. "Say it. Tell them what you are."

"I-I'm a spy for HYDRA! I've been one ever since I joined the Bureau!" He proceed to give a long list of very dark secrets that confirmed this.

Ross's jaw dropped. Rusk fumed. Maria and Sharon, having already known this, were stone faced.

"Well, get this mother fucker off my bridge," yelled Rusk as two Naval officers dragged Gyrich away. No doubt they'll interrogate him, but it wouldn't be anything new. "Sharon, your turn. What did Gyrich tell you?"

"Everything he knew," replied the grandniece of Peggy Carter in a brisk fashion. "Gyrich was recruited into HYDRA by Rumlow, and paid by him too, but he doesn't know who Rumlow works for. He claims he's never heard of Baron Zemo. I really didn't believe him, but I didn't want _him_ getting involved." She nudged her head towards Frank, who raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't look at me. If it wasn't for my persuasion, we wouldn't have the name Aleksander Lukin, now would we?"

Maria sighed and looked away.

"Anyways, Aleksander Lukin is the Russian that Gyrich claims met with Rumlow at the Denver vacation house. You, look him up." The nervous looking intern in the office began furiously typing on his keyboard while the others and some officers and guards, ordered by Rusk, moved themselves to a more secure conference room.

"Frank, I can't believe you once again," said Maria as Ross began making a phone call. "Barging into Gyrich's safehouse like that."

Apparently, she'd recovered from the shock of surprise pregnancy. Then again, Maria wasn't most women. He was constantly being reminded of that.

"What did you think I was going to do? Knock on the door and say 'Hello, I'd like to ask a few questions about your loyalty?' There are better ways to extract information."

"Just don't fall down that pit again."

He pulled her closer. "I won't, now that I have you." He then put a hand on her belly. "And him. Or her. Any idea whether it's a boy or girl?"

"I don't think doctors can tell at this age."

"The technology gets better each year. Maybe try in a few weeks?"

"Maybe." They got a few minutes with each other until Ross got off the phone and pulled up a screen. "I pulled some strings that I think can give us the missing pieces to what Frank here has uncovered. We're meeting with CIA Director Berry right now."

"How?" asked Frank.

"Videocam. Duh." A screen opened up to show both Jim Berry, along with Nick Fury. Both of them looked tired out, clearly from a workload of some kind.

"Nick," said Maria, surprised to find her old boss. "I thought you went to find Zodiac."

"Well, surprise, Ms. Hill. Zodiac was Berry's code name when the two of us were on the same Delta team, way back in the day. We go back a long time. I reckoned that the Winter Soldier's reappearance was fishy, so I went to your friendly neighborhood intelligence friend."

While Fury seemed somewhat enthusiastic, Berry was not in anyway. It showed when he interrupted Fury suddenly. "Ok, first things first: I was never here, and none of us ever spoke."

"Relax with the formalities," said Rusk. "Just tell us what we're dealing with. Some kind of conspiracy to get the Registration Act passed?"

Berry cleared his throat. "It's far more than that. You all probably already know this, but we've been running an op against HYDRA – us, the Brits, and the Russians too, believe it or not."

"Let me guess: Insight."

"Give Frank Castle a gold medal. On paper, the fall of SHIELD wasn't that devastating. Behind closed doors, however, President Ellis signed a top secret executive order stating the reemergence of HYDRA to be a clear and imminent threat to world security. Moscow and London were already seeing the effects in their own countries, so it didn't take much to sign them up. We called it Operation Hercules, after the Greek hero that slayed the Lemurian Hydra.

"For the past eighteen months, we've been waging war on HYDRA alongside the Russian GRU and the British MI6. We began rooting out and exterminating cells in full. We started with low level operations: attacking the money, snatching foot soldiers, uncovering new HYDRA plots, that sort of thing."

"Does the EU know anything about this?" asked Ross.

"Hell no. HYDRA had so many of their people on a payroll that we lost count."

"Makes sense," said Maria. "Go on."

"Once we made a significant dent in the day-to-day operations, we began taking the fight straight to the bastards, beginning with important managers and bosses."

"How important?" asked Frank.

"Very. Most of HYDRA is – or rather, was – run by family members of untouchable people: heirs to oil and gas companies, cousins of various world government ministers, black sheep's of former reigning dynasties, those sort of people. We began taking them out, one by one."

"Say again?" said Frank. He knew what Berry was referring to but wanted to hear the CIA Director say it himself.

"Each country put specifically trained teams on the ground. Kind of like the work you did, Mr. Castle. We really didn't have a choice; we're at war surely as if bombs were dropping." Berry's usually dark, somber tone was enhanced by two or more notches as he said that last sentence. Clearly the future of the world meant a few things to him.

Frank, as with everyone at the table, wasn't shocked by the fact that the CIA fielded assassination teams, but he was surprised that President Ellis had decided to use them now. Right or wrong, if Hercules ever became public knowledge, the ensuing scandals would end the careers of Ellis and Berry, to say the very least. "And how many so far? Targets eliminated, I mean."

"Forty-four," answered Fury. "That includes everything Coulson and his team had done to HYDRA as well. Running on fumes, from what my sources tell me. Another eight months and HYDRA will no longer be a major world threat."

Frank began looking through files of assassinations. A great grandson of the last German Kaiser, shot dead at a family get-together by the SAS. The son of the CEO of China's largest electronics maker, mysteriously drowned in a Japanese lake by Spetznaz troops. The twin sister of a Spanish soccer player's wife, dead from carbon monoxide poisoning arranged by an American hit squad. It wouldn't just be Berry and Ellis on the line, it would be all three governments.

"So that's what this is about," said Maria, as if a lightbulb went off in her head. "Revenge and restoring business."

"Explain," retorted a not convinced Rusk.

Maria bit her lip and cleared her throat. "This Baron Zemo was probably close to most of the dead leaders. Forty-four friends murdered. I'd be looking for revenge if that happened to me." Having been taking notes on a clipboard, Maria tossed it on the table to show the damaged leadership of HYDRA. At the top was Alexander Pierce, struck off, with several cell leaders, such as Strucker and Ward, also crossed off. Of high ranking leadership, only Helmut Zemo and Brock Rumlow remained. "I'd also wager there's tens of billions at stake.

"HYDRA's resorted to a more unconventional leader to save themselves and their money. Zemo knows he can't fight any country, let alone a superpower, head on, so he pulls off some of the most brilliant false flag attacks… Are any of you getting this?"

"I am," answered Rusk, sarcastically. "Go on. What do you think is Zemo's logic?"

"He launched one of the worst terrorist attacks in recent memory, implicating Russia, which is taking back its title of world boogeyman with activity in Syria and Sokovia. The US, of course, has no choice but to begin marching off towards war. Meanwhile, he knows the Avengers are a potential thorn to spoil the whole thing, so he gets them into the fiasco by using Bucky Barnes, found and reprogrammed yet again, and this creates a rift between Steve Rogers and those who deem Bucky responsible."

Now Maria had everyone's attention. There were a number of heads nodding or looking aimlessly in thought. Time to continue her brainstorming.

"All it takes from there is the defiance of Russia and Captain America for the plan to work. America and Russia get bogged down in a Third World War. Stark and Rogers are too busy fighting each other rather than focusing on the real threats. Lives are going to be lost on all sides, and for at least months the last thing on anyone's mind is Helmut Zemo. At worst, he has revenge; at best, revenge and a rebuilt HYDRA to terrorize the world once more."

* * *

The fight between Stark, Rogers, and Bucky had moved itself into a sewer tunnel not too far from Century Plaza. Bucky and Steve alternated using the shield to throw Iron Man off guard while the other blew fist after fist, hoping to get Stark to stand down or at least retreat. However, the armor was still holding very strong. Tony's ego had finally found armor worthy of it.

Steve had no intention of stopping. Anyone with ill will towards him, he could tolerate. Anyone out to get Bucky or Wanda, however, was destined to eat his shield. He'd die before willingly let either of them slip from his grasp.

Bucky felt the same way. He knew he'd been use for a lot of nasty shit over the last fifty something years, but he didn't know how to explain anyone, how to redeem himself without being crucified by the world. Steve Rogers was the only one he knew that could get him out of that dark, seemingly bottomless hole that Stark seemed intent on keeping him in. So he'd fight with Steve to the death, like he did in the Second World War.

"You're wasting your time and effort," said Stark as he threw Bucky off of him. "The only people that support you are, well, you."

"As long as there's air in my lungs, I intend to keep on fighting," yelled Steve as he retrieved the shield and made another jab at the Bleeding Edge armor. As before, little effect.

"That suits you, Cap," replied Stark. "You never were meant for much more than warfare."

"And you weren't, until you made that suit to save your ass?" Steve, between kicks and punches, reckoned he could trash talk as much as Stark. He wondered what Howard would think of his son, what he did. It was an insult to everything the elder Stark had done to save democracy, in Steve's opinion.

"You've heard it a thousand times, but you're a lab rat." Stark finally got out of the sewer and onto another street, scattering more people. "Same goes for you, Barnes. The wrong kind of lab rat, if I'd say so myself."

Bucky's reply was to attempt to grab the low flying Stark with his mechanical arm. Stark struggled to get him off as people began fleeing for what must have been the twentieth time Steve Rogers and Tony Stark battled it out on the streets of Los Angeles. Stark finally got Bucky to let go, only after he'd lifted both of them in the sky and crashed into a cooperative office building. Fortunately, only a window or so was damaged. As Steve attempted to race into the building, he was blocked by a group of angry looking businessmen.

"The hell you doing?" Shouted one of them, face getting red. It looked like he and his friends had a bone or two to pick with Captain America.

"Out of my way," muttered Steve, not wanting to waste time. He had Bucky to rescue and Stark to neutralize.

"Not before you explain why you wreck half of LA," said a second businessman. "You and your giant friend have caused tons of damage. And why? That registration bill?"

"Act," Steve corrected. "An act which is going to limit a whole lot of civil liberties if you don't let me through."

Around them, Steve could notice crowds gathering, few of them looking happy. He guessed that the brief lull in the fighting on the street had convinced them it was time to come on out again. If they too wanted a fight, Steve was going to have a migraine.

"Liberties for yourself, you mean," spat the first man. "You think you're so high and mighty because of your strength? No. Stark's got the right idea. I'd turn yourself in already if I were you. You think LA appreciates what you're doing here?"

"Defending the Constitution? I think so."

"Man, you're one step away from being a traitor to America. I thought Captain America was supposed to be patriotic?"

"Patriotism and loyalty to a wrong idea aren't the same," said Steve, patience nearing an end. "Now I'm going to ask one last time: move."

"Sir," came another voice. "We're going to ask you to move-"

Steve had had enough. Without bothering to look the other way, he slammed whoever the hell it was that attempted to grab him to the ground hard. "No, I will not move!"

When Steve turned around just to see who it was, he was shocked.

It was the mayor of Los Angeles himself. Steve knew he was a good man; he was one of the few elected officials to support the Avengers despite the huge debate over registration. Steve assumed that he'd personally come to the scene of the fighting to see if he could do anything to stop the violence.

And now he was lying unconscious on the sidewalk pavement. He didn't look dead, but he'd suffered some sort of head trauma. The people around him were either staring or frantically calling for an ambulance.

"You really are a murderer," said the first businessmen.

Steve's response was the grab the man by the neck and slam him against a wall, sending those nearby backing off in fear. Steve seriously considered throwing him. But then it dawned on him: _I'm not following the wishes of the people, no matter how wrong they are. And I'm as much to blame for the damage as much as Stark is._

Registration was still wrong, but he couldn't fight it. Not like this. He was becoming the everything Dr. Erskine didn't want from the serum. He'd be no better than the Red Skull.

Ok, he wasn't the same as the Red Skull. But he was going off the deep end. He dropped the snarky businessman and lowered his arms. "Arrest me."

No one made a move. He guess that they thought it was a ruse by him.

"Arrest me, goddamnit!" Language be damned.

Another minute passed with no one doing anything. Then, a couple of police officers came up and handcuffed him slowly. "I'm sorry," said one of the officers. "My boys are big fans of yours. They're not going to like hearing that their dad arrested a superhero."

"Just do it," was Steve's reply.

Bucky and Stark literally crashed into the scene from maybe the third or fourth floor. Bucky was in the process of attempting to strangle Stark when he saw Steve being handcuffed. "Steve, what the hell?"

"I'm tired of the violence," was Steve's solemn reply. "Stand down, Buck."

"I thought we were against the Registration Act-"

"I was, and still am, but I can't do it risking everyone's life. Trust me, we'll find another way. I'm not surrendering because I think Stark is right."

Bucky could have sworn he saw Stark grin. He contemplated throwing Stark off and making a run for it, but figured with all the chaos Scott Lang had created, every cop would be on high alert for Captain America and his friends. As much as he hated to admit it, Steve was probably right about this one. He reluctantly dropped Stark and followed Steve as they were taken away.

Stark said something to the officers, and then had Steve unhandcuffed. "Since you surrendered so nicely, I'll think of another deal for your friend here. I don't know, ten, twenty years sound good?"

"For the record, this does not mean I support the Registration Act in anyway whatsoever."

"You're just butthurt that actions have consequences. Or, you're no longer the face of America."

The Bus, which Coulson had been forced to turn over to the ATCU, was being used as Stark's transportation back to the Sherman, since the planes used to get to LA had been destroyed by Ant-Man. Bucky was put inside one of the high threat level containment rooms. Steve was sent to another of these rooms, where an unconscious Wanda lay sleeping on a bed.

"See? I'm not the monster you're making me out to be." Stark locked the personalized security for the door with a command to Friday.

Steve immediately went to check on Wanda. She was passed out, but breathing normally; no real signs of a struggle. He contemplated letting her snooze off like some sleeping angel. Then he nudged her shoulder. "Wanda, wake up."

"W-What… Huh?"

"Wanda, it's me. Steve Rogers. I'm here."

Almost as if intoxicated (in reality, still under the effects of the tranquilizers), Wanda struggled to get up and sit. Looking into Steve's eyes, it took a few minutes to recognize him. As soon as she did, however, she quickly put herself in his arms, allowing herself to feel like a child again. "Where are we?"

"The Bus. Lang wrecked Stark's own aircraft so he borrowed Coulson's, so to say."

"But what are _you_ doing here?"

Steve bit his lip. "I don't think fighting is the answer anymore. I got so caught up in going after Stark that I nearly killed some people. I can't risk it."

Wanda raised her eyebrows. She could have read his mind, but it had gotten to that point where she didn't need to. "Isn't this technically saying to Stark that he's won?"

"No," said Steve, almost going on the defensive. "I'm not endorsing that damned act in anyway. I'm just going to fight it in a way that doesn't get people hurt or even possibly killed. You should rest; you don't look to good."

She did, curling up in Steve's lap while he did his best to figure a way out of the Bus. He'd overheard that their destination was the Sherman. Maybe he'd find support and help there.

* * *

_Berlin_

"We've finished our sweep of the third floor."

Zemo looked into the headcam set of one of his men as Rumlow went into detail of his search of the Denver house. After receiving a distress signal that never responded when answered, Zemo reckoned a search of the place by Rumlow and his men would suffice. Not that the news was good though.

"No sign of Gyrich. All the guards we assigned here are dead. If he's captured-"

"He already is." Zemo turned away to pause and think for a moment. The opponent had captured a bishop, and he'd gotten nothing in return. _How did they find him?_ That had to have been a leak, a tipoff of some sorts. He'd have to plug it later; there was a more pressing question: _did the Americans have enough to unravel the plot?_ He had to think harder for the answer this time. _No, the Russians have destroyed their credibility enough times. Like the boy who cried wolf, denial will ring hollow. Unless they translate all the papers at that house, but I doubt it will happen._ "What about Lukin and his team?"

"In position and ready."

"Then it doesn't matter. We'll find another mole." He closed the connection, looking back on his chessboard. _One more move left, Aleksander Lukin. Don't fuck this up._


	15. Divided we Fall

"Director Berry, Fury, this is it," said Maria, looking grin into the webcam. "This is Zemo's game we've been playing all along, and we've been fools."

"I agree," said Rusk with a frown. "But how do we end it? Do we have enough evidence to convince the world of all this?" He crossed his arms, as if expecting a flat _no_ as the answer.

"I think we need Aleksander Lukin for that," suggested Frank. "I'm willing to bet he's the missing link. He had to have supplied Zemo with the men at Houston."

Frank was about to do some pure speculation when the officer assigned to research Lukin burst in. "Sorry it took so long, but I've found everything we had on Lukin."

"Let's hear it," said Ross.

"Ok, ok…" The young officer began tossing papers in his hands. "Aleksander Lukin is the current CEO and owner of Kronas Corperation. Divorced. He got the company in 2007 when his mentor and former Soviet marshal Vasily Karpov passed."

The name Kronas was another big shock. Easily rivaling the Russian state owned Gazprom in oil and natural gas extraction in Siberia, the company had gotten its hands sticky in the private military contractor (PMC) business and bought out the bankrupt Roxxon Oil to expand in the Americas. Current estimates put the company's net worth at $44 billion in US dollars.

"Lukin was a KGB general at the time of the Soviet Union's fall. He was in charge of a number of Karpov's many pet projects, including the Winter Soldier. In 1998 he was part of an attempted coup when the then regime had a moment of weakness in a diplomatic crisis with Finland. It failed, due to the fact that Putin betrayed the coup, and the ringleaders were sentenced to four years in a gulag. Lukin was the only one to come out alive."

"So the man has a bone to pick with Russia," said Frank. "What about America? Did he attempt to defect or anything?"

"Oh hell no. He was one of the most anti-American figures in the 1990s. Still is, though he's very subtle about it. For example, ripping off ExxonMobil over an oil sand negotiation in Alberta."

"Nice," said Frank. "So Zemo and HYDRA, sometime after Insight, become aware of Lukin's leanings and make contact. They offer him not only the chance to potentially bring down his own government, but drag both America and the Avengers into a bloodbath. And all he had to do, I presume, was provide a few loyal henchmen."

"Blue-light specials of war," added Maria. "It's easy to see why he signed on."

"We still have no idea how the hell to prove all of this," said Rusk. "I can put a team together to grab Lukin, but without a location or-"

A loud thud had everyone shaking and looking up to see what the hell was going. "Deck control, come in."

"Sorry, SecDef. Just had an unexpected set of guests. Iron Man just arrived on some 'Bus', and they've got Captain America's group in custody."

"How?" asked Ross. To the General, it was good that Steve Rogers was in custody, but given the recent breakthroughs in investigations, maybe it wasn't.

"He surrendered. That's all we know, sir. Mr. Stark is on the deck now."

Rusk, Maria, Sharon, and Frank headed to the bridge to find Stark and Rhodey de-suiting, as well as Natasha leading in a chair. "Afternoon, ladies and gents."

"Stark," said Rusk, shaking a strong hand. "So you have Rogers with you?"

"And Wanda, Sam, Bucky, Clint… ok, not that giant man, but he's been captured by LAPD and they'll deal with him how they see fit. Oh, and Phil Coulson and his people are with the ATCU. Your group, if I recall correctly."

Rusk nodded. After Rosalind Price's death, the President decided to take no more chances and transferred the entire organization to the Department of Defense. An awkward silence commenced, as Stark and Rhodey felt that the others were hiding a dark secret.

"You're being awfully quiet," said Rhodey finally. "Is there something you'd like to tell us?"

Sharon cleared her throat and spoke before anyone else could. "Well, there is, but you three are not going to like it."

"Tell us," snapped Natasha, never one to delay anything without good reason.

Maria spoke. "The Registration Act is based on a lie. You and Rogers are both being played for fools by our old foes in HYDRA."

* * *

 

Steve knew that the Bus had landed by the slow but steady decrease on rumbling vibrations. After a few minutes of that, a screech, and then silence. "Where are we?" asked Wanda.

"Don't know. I'd guess a helicarrier, judging from the altitude, and there's only one helicarrier I can think of that's in DoD possession."

A few minutes passed without anything happening. Wanda used the time to go back through what Steve had said about surrendering. She obviously knew he wasn't lying, but wondered why he'd the injury of one particular bystander to cause a moment of realization. She'd guessed there had been random injuries in DC and other parts of LA, but those were unfortunate. Every war had its causalities. He'd known that. She learned that with Pietro's death.

And yet, such wounds and even deaths were unacceptable. She'd reluctantly joined the new Avengers to amend for her mistakes, to keep another Pietro from happening. There was always that one lingering idea in the back of her brain screaming at her that Stark maybe, just maybe, was right about this whole registration thing, and that she needed more assistance and training. But of course her emotions would never let that man dictate what she was going to do with her life.

And here she was, stuck with Steve Rogers, Captain America, her lover, in a holding cell.

She was going to ask Steve about whether he thought any differently about registration when the door burst open. Four Marines were waiting. "We're going to have to ask you to come with us, ma'am."

Wanda glanced at Steve for a split second, knowing that he'd never let her out of his sight again. Surprisingly, his face seemed to be fine with it. The Taser rods all four Marines carried probably had something to do with it. She walked with them out of the Bus and across the deck of the helicarrier, the same one that had saved the people of Novi Grad many months ago. She passed through what must have been at least four levels before arriving in her final destination: yet another holding cell.

The door closed behind Wanda. A few seconds later, Frank Castle appeared. He'd been mysteriously absent during the fights at DC and LA, and wondered what he'd been up to for the past few days.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here with you, and not some bureaucrat." He noticed her eyes trailing the numerous guns on him. "Oh, forgot about those." He quickly tossed aside all of his guns, ammo, and grenades. They'd be useless against her anyways.

"You're not in favor of registration."

"Honestly, Wanda, I don't give a shit about the registration act or the Sokovia Accords. It's all PR bullcrap to keep the masses assured that they feel safe."

He wondered why she hadn't reached the conclusion he hoped she could make, so he asked her. "Have you read my mind yet?"

"What? No." Wanda had resolved not to mess with anyone's mind unless given explicit permission. "Why?"

"If you had, you'd know why I'm even her in the first place. Go ahead."

So she did. And she was shocked by what he had to say. There was no way in hell Steve and Tony were cogs in one huge conspiracy-machine. 'You're lying."

"I thought you might say that. So I brought a friend." Frank slammed on the door, signaling for something to happen. A few seconds later Ghost came in the room, bringing the bound and gagged Henry Gyrich with him. Gyrich was thrown down at Wanda's feet.

"You know who this is?" asked Ghost.

"Of course I know," replied Wanda sarcastically. "It's that FBI agent from the facility."

"Well, it's best you hear it from him," said Frank. He pulled Gyrich off, took off the gag, and held a knife at his throat. "Go ahead. Talk. She'll know if you're lying."

Gyrich gulped. "HYDRA. I was HYDRA's man within the facility. H-How many times am I going to have to do this?"

"As many times as I damn well please." Frank slammed Gyrich's head down on the metal table and said to Wanda, "I don't think he feels like talking. Read his mind."

She did, and found an agent who'd been a traitor ever since he'd joined the FBI. He'd given his bosses –Lukin and Brock Rumlow - everything regarding Ultron, the Convergence of 2013, Extremis, the recent events in Sokovia and Houston, and so much more. Suffice to say, she was finally convinced. As Ghost dragged Gyrich out, she said to Frank, "Why? Why us?"

"I'd say to keep Captain Rogers from interfering in Helmut Zemo's plans to kick start a Russo-American war and keep people off his scent. They specifically triggered you because of the whole instability magical thing… sorry."

"Go on."

"Alright then. They used Bucky as a way of creating a rift between Rogers and those who wanted to see Barnes brought to justice, like Stark. I have no idea what's really going to happen to him, but I can probably assure you that it's not as bad as Rogers thinks it will be."

Wanda lifted an eyebrow. And shook her head.

Frank, undeterred, went on. "Let me tell you something: if it were up to me, we'd keep Barnes around because we still need all the firepower we can get. Stark called Vision back to base, but it'll be days before he can make an impact. I'm asking you to talk to Steve and see if he and Stark can put aside their differences for just a week. That's all we need, really."

Wanda tapped her fingers against the table and stared Frank dead in the eyes. "I will try. But if you are lying in any way…"

"Look, you're a mind reader. I'm just a guy with a gun. Now let's head on over to Rogers and sort this shit out with him."

The walk to Steve's detainment cell wasn't very far. As they passed, Wanda noticed Natasha in Bucky's cell. They spoke Russian to each other, quite fluently, and they looked like old friends to the untrained eye. Wanda would have found it amusing to see the matchmaker of the team try romance for herself again if times weren't so grim.

Wanda immediately went into Steve's arms as soon as she saw him standing, almost defiantly. Frank cleared his throat to break them up, and all three took seats. "Captain, we've got a serious matter that we think we could use your help on."

"Yes we do, Frank. You tell Stark and President Ellis to get that damned Registration Act overturned immediately. I don't care if you have to threaten Congress. I will not stand for it, even in this holding cell."

Steve's tirade caused Frank to smile and almost laugh. Wanda looked at him uneasily.

"You think this is a joke, Frank?!"

Frank maintained his seemingly menial demeanor. "Sure. I'll tell Stark you said that. It'll go in one ear and out the other. By right now, we've got a much bigger problem."

"How much bigger?" asked Steve, still obviously not convinced.

"Big enough to have you and Stark become sworn enemies, as well as have America dragging itself off towards war."

While Wanda dropped her head, Steve crossed his arms defiantly. "Explain."

Frank began explaining everything: the money trail from the Houston attackers to Helmut Zemo, the castle in the middle of Germany, Lance Hunter's info packet, Henry Gyrich, and Aleksander Lukin. When he was finally finished telling everything, Steve looked at him like he was responsible for 9/11. Frank thus had to toss Lance Hunter's mobile device with the damning evidence.

"Is this true?" asked Steve. Did HYDRA's tendrils really spread that close to them?

"Castle brought Gyrich to me to examine," said Wanda reassuringly. "It's true. All of it. Read his mind like an open book."

Steve slowly came to the realization that maybe, just maybe, he'd been played again. After Insight, he swore it would never happen again. Apparently, he'd been wrong. "So now what? We're supposed to make up with Stark because of all… this?" Steve waved his arm in the air in a mocking fashion.

"That's not it, Boy Scout. We need to be united if we want to catch these bastards, not divided. Didn't Abraham Lincoln say something about a divided house not standing?"

"And he was talking about slavery, not an unjust act."

Frank slowly put his hands to head level, as if surrendering, while looking at Wanda. "Relax, bimbo. Rusk and Stark are offering you guys amnesty from the act as well as somewhat forgiveness for LA if you sign on to any op we undertake regarding Zemo and Lukin. They're the ones to blame for all this fuckery anyhow."

Steve stared blankly. He turned to Wanda, who offered a shrug of shoulders. He fumed. "And who takes the fall for all this?"

"The damages in DC will be pinned on Matt Murdock, since Stark couldn't convince him otherwise. As for LA, your friend Scott Lang is still resisting arrest. That's not to say you'll be arrested, but it'll be a joke. Really. Stark will let you pick which fancy furnished cell room you want to stay in for a few months and all."

Steve considered saying _no_ on the spot. He wasn't going to admit any wrongdoing. But then again, he'd nearly killed the Mayor of LA, who according to news reports was still in critical condition. Besides, he'd adopted to a few things in the modern world. Making deals would be one of them, eventually.

"What about Bucky?"

"Stark's still fuming about how he offed his old man. But I'm sure something can be worked out. Something always does."

"Fine," Steve said eventually. 'But I want Stark here and to give me his word. I'm tired of his lying."

Frank sighed and left the two of them, mentioning in his radio for Stark to go talk to Steve and iron out details of the uneasy truce. He stopped by Maria's office, where she and Sharon were tossing Gyrich's papers around. They were looking for any clues as to HYDRA's next move. Zemo had probably invested at least a year at least a year in laying the groundwork for his master plot. He wouldn't be confident in just letting chance finish it for him.

"Hell of a chance you took talking to Wanda first," said Maria.

"Figured she could do the whole mind reading thing and gain my trust. Can't really lie when it comes to her. Besides, she'll make Steve more accepting of Stark's so-called truce ideas, one way or another. Now what's all this?"

"You see this?" asked Sharon, holding up a stack of the papers. "This is in German. All of it. Got some Russian over there. I'm trying to translate it, but I'm not fluent enough in either language to make any sense of it."

"Give it to Natasha, she's better at languages than I am. Let her sort this shit out."

"I would," replied Sharon, "but she's taken it upon herself to get the guy with the metal arm nice and cozy. I'd say they're cuddling right now. And since I'm _decent_ enough in German and Russian…"

Maria struggled to hide a smile when Sharon mentioned Natasha "cuddling with the guy with the metal arm".

"Alright," said Frank, grabbing a chair and taking off his Kevlar vest, "I'll help you. Give me something to work with."

Sharon gave him one of the documents with Russian on it. "Clearly someone was trying to translate it, but it never got fully completed. For example, that word means "long poleaxe," or something along those lines. And this word, over here, means "crown prince". What do you make of that sentence?"

"I think it means 'A crown prince should always strike first with a long poleaxe?' That's what I think."

"Yeah, I could translate that. But I can't make any sense of it. The rest of it did make sense. Technical terms for something."

"Wait," said Maria from her desk, as if a lightbulb had gone off. "You said 'long poleaxe'. Could it have been a specific type of ax, like a berdysh?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so. Why-"

"Berdysh drones." Without warning, Maria pulled her iPad and show on it what appeared to be Ultron drones, but with numerous modifications. "After the Russians occupied Sokovia, they were the first to grab anything that Ultron used in his little stint, including drones. The Russians have modified them to be faster, stronger, more durable." She began walking fast out the door. "We need to inform the others."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, tell me what you thought. I thought this site was better than FF on reader feedback. I might just do a gift fic or something if you do.


	16. Russian Warfare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Standing on the soap box for a moment. I haven't posted a chapter in a while because, frankly, I'm getting frustrated by the lack of comments, feedback, whatever you want to call it. I don't like taking time out of my day to write for an audience that doesn't seem to care. If you genuinely enjoy what I'm writing, please, PLEASE, write a little something. Send me a message about what you liked. Or didn't like. Or send me a plot idea you want to see in some form or fashion. I don't care how you do it, just let me know you're reading. I write for my own enjoyment, but I'd appreciate it if others enjoyed it too and let me knew about it. That being said, I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten thus far. It just seems to have fallen off a cliff lately and it demotivates me. I have a life too, you know.
> 
> Ok, now leaving the soap box. Read away.

Maria Hill barged into Rusk's latest meeting, where he was talking with ambassadors from NATO. "It's not an attack here, or anywhere nearby. " She explained the translation of the Russian and German documents.

"Those new drones Russia's been testing," muttered Rusk.

"Right. And 'crown prince' could be the _Tsesarevich._ " The title for the heir presumptive to the old Russian throne, Tsesarevich was also the name of an experimental frigate undergoing last minute preparations in the Sea of Okhotsk, including Berdysh drones. "Just one of those drones could sink a destroyer, let alone severely damage the _Bush_."

"Good God," said Rusk. "We need to do some thinking. Russian naval facilities are heavily defended, especially at a time like this. Despite their status as a first class PMC, Kronas wouldn't have the means to break into a port, hijack a drone carrier ship, _and_ get away with it. What does that mean?"

"Given HYDRA's influence, we have to assume that Kronas got command of that ship one way or another. Did the ship ever enter a non-government port for repairs or anything?"

Rusk's response was, as per usual at this point, to have someone else do it for him. When the results were in, the _Tsesarvich_ indeed had been stopped at a Kronas operated port near Petropavlovsk for the last month for "supply and repairs".

"Thirty days," said Maria. "That's more than enough time for Lukin's men to get familiar with the ship and its payload. We need to send in the Avengers."

"Whoa, wait a minute," countered Rusk. "Why not just give the information to the Navy and let them mop it up?"

"Those drones can attack a ship from miles away. Besides, any action on part of the Navy will be seen as an act of war by the Russians. The Avengers, not so much. That gives us time to explain everything to everyone without tripping the war wire."

Rusk took a good three minutes before giving a reply. "Alright. See how many of Captain America's group you can convince to sign up. Promise them whatever it takes."

"I'm not offering empty promises."

Maria found Clint Barton easy enough to sign on: he just wanted his family out of the limelight, and didn't care which way it was done. Sam Wilson refused flatly, out of protest. She felt that she didn't need to take the matter with him any further.

That left Steve, Wanda, and Bucky. Steve had finalized his terms for cooperation: "Full immunity from the act, and Bucky's name cleared. Same goes for Wanda."

"Fine," said Stark, smiling. "Now: how do we attack this thing?"

"I've assaulted a dozen ships," said Steve. "In each and every case, all I had to do was launch myself on it and that was all that was needed. It shouldn't be any more difficult."

"Careful," warned Frank Castle. "The Lumerian Star was a group of poorly armed Frenchies looking for a payday. Lukin's men have vibranium weapons that can actually put a dent in your shield. Along with the drones, I'd suspect they have the regular compliment of 90 something men on board, not to mention missiles, antiaircraft, and the like."

"Even so," said Steve, confident. "We should be able to beat them easily. Maria, you said something about a timetable?"

"Yes, I did. Given the ship's current position and movement, we have to assume Lukin can launch those drones when and where he wants them to. What's the max speed on a Quinjet? Someone find that out for me."

"Dunno, but my suit can go a hell of a lot faster," snipped Stark. "Rhodey and I will go out first, to scout out and keep Kronas busy."

* * *

"No," said Rusk.

"I want him to come along," said Steve. "Bucky's my friend."

"And how do you know that? Once he sees who's on that ship…" Rusk's voice trailed off, as if he was sensing doom in the near future.

It was a fair point. Lukin had enlisted many of his former KGB coworkers into Kronas. Some of those who had worked on the Winter Soldier project had the very real possibility of appearing onboard the _Tsesarivich_.

"He'll be on your side," said Wanda to Steve. Frank had originally been opposed to the idea of Wanda coming along as well, as the ship might have had something that could overwhelm her again, but she'd persuaded him that the risk was worth it.

"What do you mean?" asked Rusk.

"He'll be on whatever side Steve Rogers is on. I can feel it. He's fully in control."

Bucky gave a sympathetic look to Wanda that read _thank you_. He'd rather be out fighting than being held like a captive in the bowels of a helicarrier. Besides, Natasha was coming along as well, and he wanted to join her.

While Bucky and Steve loaded up, Maria once again came to Frank's side. "Come back safe."

"When haven't I?"

"I know, it's just… for him or her."

"I will." He hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead in the way that reassured her when she lost her nerves or iron will. "You get enough rest and whatever you need. You hear?"

"I hear."

"Good. Now maybe I can end this damn thing once and for all.

* * *

The last heir to the Imperial Russian throne, the Tsesarivich, was Alexei Romanov, son of Tsar Nicholas II. He, his wife, and all five of his children, Alexei included, were executed 1918 by the Bolsheviks in their takeover of Russia.

In 2015, the Russian Navy announced a new class of frigates, called the Romanovs, was to be named after members of the dynasty. _Tsesarivich_ was one of them. Several months later, Aleksander Lukin was given nominal command of the frigate, as part of Kronas' deal to furnish the boat for 21st century warfare. Lukin was sixty, divorced with children, and viewed by those who knew him as a pensive loner of sorts, always devoted to his work and mission.

And now he was on the mission of a lifetime.

Three days earlier, the _Tsesarivich_ had steamed out of port in Petropavlovskto nominally join the rest of the Russian Pacific Fleet in taking up defensive positions in and around the Bering Strait. Lukin was confident that he and his crew of eighty would get close enough to launch twenty four Berdysh drones upon the _Bush_ and her escorts, initiating the glorious first strike against America.

His only regret was that Karpov would never see it happen.

One of Lukin's assistants, the man in charge of launching the drones, came to his side. "We're picking up a stray signature. Doesn't match any of the Navy's."

"Interesting. Let them come to us, then send some of the drones after it."

"Understood. Today will be a great day for the Motherland."

"Yes." Lukin peered out into the distance from the bridge and saw the Quinjet getting closer and closer. "Yes it will.

* * *

"Here's the plan," said Steve, already giving out orders just hours after turning himself in. "Stark and Rhodey should be approaching the _Tsesarivich_ any moment now. We have to assume they'll fire the drones as soon as Stark or Rhodey begins attacking."

"I'll destroy them," said Wanda. It made sense; she was the only one on the Quinjet that could fly.

Steve acknowledged her and turned to the others, namely Frank, Clint, Natasha, and Bucky. "The rest of us will sweep the deck and fight our way to the bridge to shut down the drones from their controls. All unknowns are hostile-"

"We're spotted," yelled one of the pilots. "They've got a missile locked on us!" Alarms began whirling in the Quinjet, and a missile could be seen flying at them. Thinking quickly, Frank pressed the button that dropped the hangar door, and motioned for Wanda to fly out. While she did that, the others began bracing for impact.

But the impact never came. The Quinjet was able to dodge the missile in the nick of time, leaving it to explode behind them. Regardless, the team was not locked and ready to be dropped off. The first of the drones was also being launched, ignoring the Quinjet and heading for the American ships. Barton looked around uneasily, while Steve gripped his shield tighter, in case of emergency diving.

"We need to be dropped off now," said Frank to the pilot. "Right there, at the landing zone."

"Easy there," said the pilot, shaken. "We just got extremely lucky with that damn missile. Next time, it might not be that way."

"I don't care, damnit! If Lukin's men manage to get even one of their drones to damage a US warship, we are at _war_! A Russian ship with Russian weapons, lying in wait within Russian waters. What do you think everyone's going to think?!"

Although he was practically yelling at the top of his lungs at this point, Frank had gotten the point across. The Quinjet was quickly zooming towards the landing zone. Miraculously, they didn't get another missile. But that was because several of the men on the ship had begum firing on them, vibranium rattling off the wings.

Bucky, who'd been carrying his Dragonov, shot both of them before either could reload. Two super soldiers, a pair of master assassins, and one ex-SEAL stepped out. "Clint, with me," said Steve. "You three, sweep the lower decks while making your way to the bridge."

Another drone swept past them. And another. And then, another. These drones only had a single circular depression in their heads rather than humanoid expressions that Ultron had designed. The ship's crew, obviously aware of the situation, was firing all of its drones in a desperate attempt. Steve threw his shield at one to force it to crash it in the sea, but more kept coming.

"Wanda, keep them busy," said Steve over comms as he and Clint began fighting with several more crewmen advancing on them. Several more drones fell to the ocean, wrapped in red magic. On Frank's side, two more crewmen approached, dressed in Spetznaz gear and carrying Groza rifles. Specifically designed to carry subsonic ammunition, the Groza was standard issue for Russian special forces, and for good reason.

Natasha's solution was to dive headfirst into the first man, knocking him down with a foot. The second was dispatched with a Widow bite, out before he even hit the deck. A third henchman, dressed in black, approached with gun ready, but before Natasha began thinking of a plan, the man was dead from a bullet to the head.

Bucky Barnes lowered his rifle and gave a courteous nod to Natasha, who reacted likewise. Frank rolled his eyes and said, "We can flirt later. There are people to kill and drones to disable." His boots stomped across the ship's metal deck, running towards the next objective in stopping WWIII. He fired at the next mercenary in his way, faceless and goggled in next generation eyeware, as he fought to keep the world out of global war.

* * *

Wanda fired off her latest hex, and another drone was sent for a dive in the Pacific. These drones were more durable than the ones Ultron had constructed in just a few days, but they weren't at the same level as Ultron's actual bodies. She was about to fire the next hex when the drone to her left began contracting the metal plates in its head.

The head had transformed into a single, circular cannon of some sort, which presumably would be able to fire the same kinds of energy that Ultron and his drones did. Instead, it fired and Wanda's world tore apart.

The energy weapon fired by the drone's head was the exact same kind that had been used against her in Houston. It caused her to shriek out in agonizing pain, and her head felt like it was planning on splitting in two. Wanda had promised herself that she would be better prepared to defend against these kind of attacks, but she was so caught up in fighting her former teammates that she never got around to doing it.

She had failed. She was going to fail again.

Until it stopped.

Everything had gone back to normal. No more throbs in the head or heart. No more instantaneous killer headache. The drone now had multiple wounds in its body, and it crashed deftly into the ocean shortly afterwards. Her savior had been Rhodey, who gunned down the drone for good measure.

"You good?" he asked her, with no hint of malice from the recent events.

"Yes."

"Great. Let's-"

Rhodey was interrupted by another drone, which had fired its headbeam into Rhodey's armor, concentrating on the arc reactor. Though Rhodey wasn't dependent on it like Stark was, it still powered his armor and could be considered a weak point. Taken by surprise, War Machine was sent flying, and began to plummet down towards Bering Island, not far from them.

The drone turned its head at Wanda, and began to charge its laser again. Wanda began to put up a force field when the drone was punched by Tony Stark himself, who'd seen his friend get attacked. "Sorry, little witch, but saving Rhodey is my job, not yours."

If Rhodey had no hard feelings, Stark still had some. She didn't have the time to think about it, though, as another group of drones headed towards her, and her efforts were focused on taking them down.

* * *

"Starboard side clear," said Frank to Steve as he gunned down the last man on the topside of the frigate. It had taken them a good ten minutes to do so, but it was done. Among beaten walls and scattered bullet castings, there were areas connecting to the bridge of the ship were leaking water from busted pipes, and overhead there was an announcement of some sorts being spoken in Russian.

Natasha and Bucky, both being fluent in Russian, widened their eyes for a second before Frank caught on to it. "They're planning on scuttling the ship, aren't they?"

"Yes," replied Bucky. "And with it would go all our witnesses. Unless Lukin himself is on this ship."

"Fortunately, I don't kill everyone I fight," replied Steve, "so we have witnesses. We'll need them for proof of HYDRA's involvement."

"I just called Maria, who in turn called the Navy," said Natasha. "They're peeling off two destroyers to do the cleaning up. Until then, we're on our own. So let's get to it."

As it turned out, Barton was already on that. Another six Kronas mercenaries, this time armed with vibranium melee weapons, had tried to take the archer down, but all six were defeated via arrows and superior martial arts skills. The first two were thrown into a third, while the fourth was pin cushioned soon enough. The fifth was given a quick kick in the crotch, and the sixth got a punch to the neck and an arrow in the chest.

One of them tried to get up, but Frank dragged him alongside where Steve had put the prisoners.

Another five minutes later, and they were at what could only be the door to the bridge. There was a lock on it. "Reinforced steel," said Frank. "Who here wants to take care of it?"

Without saying a word, Barton drew an explosive arrow and fired it at the lock, destroying it. Expecting resistance, Frank tossed a grenade let it rip. The blast killed at least half of the men inside the bridge's control room, and others were missing a limb. Some survived, however, and began firing from cover.

Natasha and Steve were first inside, dispatching the operators with effective and varied levels of ruthlessness. Frank followed, putting people down where appropriate. Eventually, a grey haired man who had that look of determination stood up, machine pistol in hand and confident he'd take at least one of those superheroes down with him.

Aleksander Lukin.

In another world, Frank would have put a bullet in his head. But they needed him alive: he was the one person that could ultimately confirm that HYDRA and Baron Zemo had manipulated the recent attacks and the Registration Act, as well as similar acts worldwide. With great reluctance, Frank Castle gave him a shoulder wound, when it should have been a headshot.

After clearing the rest of the bridge, the group gathered around Lukin and several other captives that were still alive. Lukin's face was defiant. "I still win. There are too many drones-"

"For us to take down?" That was Steve speaking. "No. You lose. You sought to divide us with your schemes. You only united us against your pathetic cause."

Lukin spit a good amount of blood and gathered enough strengh to raise himself to his knees, facing Natasha and Bucky. "Ah, the asset. Good to see you again. And my dear Natasha, I see that the Red Room trained you very well-"

The tone in his voice was meant to be provocative, and it pissed Natasha off enough for her to kick him in the femur, fracturing it at the very least and bringing Lukin down on his knees again.

"We trained you well, Black Widow. Even now, you don't fade."

She picked him up and threw him against a window, causing him to fall outside into the room below. "You're going to pay for this. But first I expect you to bleed. A lot."

"If that's to be my fate, you may as well kill me now, _cyka_."

Frank picked him up and tossed him again.

"Too late for that. You've got a date with the Scarlet Witch coming up."

While dragging the CEO out to the outside, Steve found Wanda floating down to his level. "I've got good news and bad news."

"Good news first."

"The drones are all destroyed. Bad news: Rhodey took a hit. I fear he may not be with us longer."

**I'm not sure what they plan to do with War Machine in the movie, so I left it up in the air. I'll decide next chapter. I would have posted this earlier, but I've got some family issues come up that may affect how often I post and such. So any reviews would be a big gift from you guys and I'll give you a metaphorical hug. Like really, it means a lot.**


	17. Anarchy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if I sounded a bit harsh in my last notes, but a lack of feedback can be frustrating. I meant to post this earlier, but never got around to it. I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you thought.

"He's stable, but someone go get him some water." Stark had landed on the _Tsesarivich_ with the heavily wounded Rhodey in his arms. He wasn't conscious, and his arc reactor for his suit had been scorched out by the drone strike. Wanda detected a faint presence, on that could drop at a whim.

"What happened?" asked Frank, weapons at the ready.

"Drones aimed for the reactor. One weak point if you can actually get to it."

Frank quickly searched the ship's food supply and found several gallons, more than enough needed to keep Rhodey stable. As he gave the water to Stark, he noticed another ship coming in from the east, getting closer and closer in view.

"One of the destroyers," said Natasha, referring to the two destroyers that the Bush had sent to investigate. The rest of the US fleet had halted after taking up positions, not sure of the entire situation. "I'll go explain us to their boarding party."

Frank followed her, as did Steve and Wanda. Five minutes later, the boarding party came along in their little life raft, finding Aleksander Lukin and ten of his men on the afterdeck, each one of them bound and gagged. "Black Widow?"

"The one and only. Take these men into custody. Do you have a medic with you?"

"I'm one," said one of the Navy's boarding party.

"War Machine is critically injured," said Frank bluntly. "Get yourself over to that side. I have no idea of his condition-"

The medic ignored him and ran to where Rhodey was laying, still unconscious. One of the others, however, ran into Wanda. He stared at her coldly for a few minutes, as if he had lost someone in Houston. Then he rushed off. Wanda didn't detect anything but angry for an attack on his country, so she could relax and feel better about herself. She couldn't explain herself to him if he'd been affected.

"Don't kill yourself over it."

That was Steve, walking up to her as the medic began checking Rhodey for vitals. "I can read faces. Still wasn't your fault. Never was, never will be."

 _Tell that to the families of the victims,_ Wanda thought silently. Of course, she knew better than to tell Steve that. She didn't need excessive reassurances. Eventually, Rhodey was declared alive, but in critical condition. His face mask had been ripped off and his body placed on a makeshift stretcher that was being loaded on the Quinjet, surprisingly in one piece. The rest of the Avengers loaded as well, watching silently as the second destroyer took up position and the _Tsesarivich_ confiscated.

* * *

The officer waived Frank into the conference room on the Sherman, where the others were waiting. Two hours after stopping Aleksander Lukin, the Avengers had arrived on board and had changed back into civilian gear. Frank had slipped out of his tactical gear and had been given a spare jumpsuit that was obviously too small.

"Too tight on the damn crotch," he muttered to Maria as they took their seats next to Stark and Steve.

"Nothing like a man in uniform," she purred.

Frank sighed and said, "Not this one."

Frank Castle and the newly glued together Avengers had been vouched for and been labeled off limits to the rest of the ship's crew, which was fine with him. Of course, considering what they'd brought with them and left in the Bering Strait – the remains of two dozen Berdysh drones, a repurposed Russian drone control ship, and a high ranking mole within the FBI – he couldn't blame them.

"You certainly know how to make an entrance, Castle," said Ross bluntly through a screen that had the White House portrait of George Washington behind him.

"Glad to do so. So how's the stock market? Read any good books lately? Are we at war with Russia?"

Ross smiled. "No, we're not at war. Gyrich combined with Lukin and his men did the trick. The connections we put together between HYDRA, Lukin, Gyrich, and Houston were enough for the President. As we speak, the Swiss are delivering a back-channel message to Moscow. How Putin will react is anyone's guess, but given how Lukin was a problem he never could get rid of permanently, I think he'll take the chance for a mutual stand down."

"And how's that going to work out?" asked Barton.

"Over the next few days the Bush and our other ships in the Bering will head back to Pearl Harbor, and the Russians will withdraw their Pacific fleet back to Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk."

"Interesting," said Stark, chewing on a piece of gum. "And how does all this get explained to the rest of the world?"

"That's a good question."

"And it's not our problem, I presume?"

"Right."

"What about Zemo?" asked Steve. He was alarmed that the son of one of the men that he'd put in jail had returned from the dead to haunt them.

Ross cleared his throat. "In half an hour the ambassador from the EU will be here with me in the Oval Office. The message will be similar to the one Berry's been using around the world for Operation Hercules: Zemo was your problem; you let him run loose and did nothing about it. Give him up now or the world is going to learn the hard way about how a German heir with half of Brussels in his pocket killed twelve hundred Americans, had the Avengers running around with sticks up their asses, and almost started World War III."

"And if they refuse to play ball or Zemo goes underground?" asked Natasha.

"He can't hind forever," said Frank, frankly.

Ross smiled again. "Took the words out of my mouth."

* * *

The next few days went more slowly. As Frank and Maria led the manhunt for Helmut Zemo, Stark and Steve finally hammered out their differences with much spite. The Avengers were to remain an official unit, but one with much government over watch. Registration continued, but it would only be used for recordkeeping purposes, not forced recruiting for black ops task forces, as Rusk had tossed around at least twice.

"See?" asked Stark giddily. "Everyone wins."

"Guarentees by mouth are worthless," countered Steve. "I want papers swearing that this is actually happening. And if I see any signs of the government lying about this…"

"Oh, we're not."

"You've said that about many things that weren't what they seemed. Ultron, for example."

Tony frowned. "Don't. Just don't. Now, does Wanda want a pardon or not?" One of Steve's main sticking points was clearing Wanda of any wrongdoing, since she'd done none to begin with. The blame was being pinned on Lukin and Kronas, and Wanda wouldn't be taken to a government facility, but she was going to find someone who specialized in "this whole telekinesis and magic stuff," in Stark's words.

"Of course she does. I want it, too. Tell President Ellis to sign it ASAP."

"Will comply, Cap. Just remember, you're on a very short leash. I'd advise you to just suck it up and move on, but for some reason I can't see you doing that."

And Steve probably wouldn't. He still didn't trust the act to do more good than harm, rather vice versa. But he'd been forced to the drawing table, and had gotten enough to live with for now. He left the room to tell Wanda the news. She was just outside, in her usual red and brown attire.

"So… I am innocent?" she asked.

"Yes," he said back, taking her in his arms and kissing her. She tasted of what he thought were strawberries. "You've always been. It was just a matter of making Stark see that too."

Not like she'd had a history of finding herself on the wrong side or anything. But that was what Steve Rogers was for. An emotional anchor, in one sense. She could have bet money that he valued her life over his.

Wanda preferred that it not come to that, though. "Even if it meant hurting yourself for me?"

"Of course. I love you."

Events later on would put that thought to the test.

* * *

Ross' message to the EU put them into a tailspin. Two days later, European Enforcer Corps (EEC) troopers began bringing the hammer down on all potential HYDRA safe houses and bases in twelve countries, hoping to find Baron Zemo. He was at none of them, and his castle in Germany was deserted, cleaned out hastily. Every border had been put on alert, but so far nothing had turned up.

Thirty hours later, as the Avengers were uncomfortably getting settled back in the base, and as Rhodey's condition, appeared to be stabilizing, Frank picked up an old, familiar signal. He and Maria took it to Stark. "That's Lance Hunter's beacon. I'm certain of it."

"And he was at the castle, right?"

"Yep."

"Let's triangulate it." A computer monitor began zooming in on southern Europe. "Southern Italy. Assuming Lance is still with Zemo and they're on the move, it looks like they're headed for the one place in the area that might take them in now."

"San Marino," said Maria. "Recently became a hotbed of criminal activity. They've been refusing to extradite anyone ever since the Ultron Crisis."

"He can't be moving, he'll have to wait for a few days to get a cover in place," suggested Frank. "Where's the exact location?"

Stark zoomed in further, until a 3D version of a fortress appeared on the screen. "Here we are. Mons Chimera castle. Long history of this place, not much of it pretty."

There had been a town where Mons Chimera stood since the Roman era, but the first castle had been built on the orders of Emperor Maxentius, founder of a secret society that would ultimately become the modern day HYDRA. The fortress grew in the Middle Ages, being perched on a small hill and naturally suited for defensive warfare. It was fought over by the Papacy, Normans, Venice, France, and most notably Cesare Borgia, who owned it for a year. After the fall of the Borgia, Pope Julius II used the fortress as a prison. In more recent memory, it was loaned by Fascist Italy to the SS during WWII, and among those who worked there was Hedrick Zemo.

"Human experimentation in the dungeons," muttered Maria.

"Yep. So we parachute our way in and call it a day?"

"Guess so," said Stark. "Time to assemble."

* * *

Steve's alarm rang, and he instantly snapped up to get his phone and turn it off. However, he'd woken Wanda in the process. She shifted and nudged around in the sheets of the bed, the only thing covering her body. "What time is it?"

"I forgot to mention that if you're going to take me to bed, you better get used to early alarms."

"It was _you_ who wanted it, if I recall correctly."

Steve smiled, remembering last night. It was fair to say it was pretty memorable for both of them. He could work with this step in their relationship. He put on a tank top and walked out, only to find Frank Castle right in front of him, back in his tacsuit.

"Time to pack up," said Frank.

"What? What happened?"

"We tracked Zemo's location. Fortified castle in Italy, one that he knows the inner workings of. Of course the Army needs backup, so they called us."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Did Stark put you up to this?"

"Hell no. It's just news I'm telling you."

"I don't appreciate the sarcasm."

"I don't appreciate the fact that you and Stark keep eying each other like sharks. Obviously neither of you can hit each other without letting the other get back up."

Steve sighed, and cracked his knuckles. "I guess so. I suppose you have a few stories about that kind of work?"

"You know you're one bad day away from being me, right?"

"Maybe, but I don't plan on it being any day soon. So who's going on this one?"

"Everyone from the ship storming, except Falcon again, because he doesn't want to."

Steve shrugged his shoulders. "His decision, not mine. We'll respect it. How is Maria coming along?"

"Better. She gets first pick of lazy desk jobs on the helicarrier." Frank actually smiled. She wasn't going to be active for at least a year, thanks to Frank. He wasn't letting anything stop him, either.

"I'm glad to hear that."

"So am I."

Steve was getting tired of using the helicarrier every time the Avengers needed to be somewhere, but it was the fastest thing they had that could transport all three companies of Marines that were needed to storm Zemo's fortress. A small town, probably taken over, stood at the gate to the fortress, the only tall building for miles. He was about to begin grabbing gear for parachute landing when Rusk came up to him.

"We have a situation, Captain. We're tracking multiple passenger jets entering the Sherman's airspace… Wait. Are those birds?"


	18. Anarchy II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for not writing for so long but life gets in the way. I hope you'll enjoy nevertheless.

Hundreds of red dots, flashing off the virtual monitor showing the helicarrier along with Mons Chimera, began dispersing from the four passenger jets in all directions. What couldn't be denied, however, was that they were making a general direction for the helicarrier.

They were about to come under siege. "We're under attack," said Steve more urgently than he'd spoken in a long time. "Castle, what's the situation on deck?"

"Hundreds of them!" Gunfire could be heard over Frank's gruff voice. "Paratroopers all over the place. HYDRA cameo, jetwing tech. I doubt our guns will hit even a fraction of them!"

 _This was it,_ thought Steve. Forced back into a corner and with his last safe haven about to come under siege, Zemo wouldn't go down without a fight. He had to be the one who won with the upper hand.

"We stick to the plan," said Steve over the Sherman's comms, reaching everyone and everybody. "Alpha team and supporting elements, we drop ourselves onto the castle and end this once and for all. Gamma team, stay and defend the helicarrier. Last thing we need is it to fall on Italian soil and let Zemo take advantage of an already bad situation."

Originally, the plan was to storm Mons Chimera with two teams of heroes, each accompanied by a hundred Marines. Alpha Team, which consisted of the big guns and heavy hitters, was comprised of Steve, Wanda, Tony, Vision, and Bucky. Gamma team, the more human but still lethal players in the arsenal, was made up of Natasha, Frank, Clint, Ghost, and Sharon Carter. They'd deal with the masses of regular henchmen while Alpha took on the big threats that Zemo assumedly had in his castle.

All of that was thrown out the window with the surprise attack. "Any update from the deck, Castle?"

"Another wave landing now. I'm trying to take some of the heat off our men. If you want to jump, now's the time!"

Frank was right. Two HYDRA soldiers tried to crash land into the room Steve was in, but a timed shield throw took both of them out in a second. "Alpha team, on me in the hangar."

The journey there was no better. Operators and Marines alike were struggling to get their weapons and fend of the attackers, several of which Steve was forced to take care of before moving into another room. One by one, he collected Vision, Bucky, Stark, and Wanda, the last of whom he found almost toying with three enemy combatants. "We don't have time for this," muttered Stark as she tossed the men off the helicarrier with ease and playfulness.

Bucky was distracted by Natasha, who, to the surprise of just about everyone, kissed him. "It's something we used to do in the Red Room," she insisted. "Nothing personal."

"Sure it is," quipped Stark.

"Alright, listen up," said Steve. "We have our objectives. Destroy all vibranium weapons on site. Execute kill/capture order on target Helmut Zemo."

"I vote kill," said Stark straight off the bat. "Taking people alive doesn't seem to work out a lot. Isn't that right, Vision? With Ultron?"

"There was no other choice," the android replied logically and solemnly.

"I made you, and at the same time I don't get you."

"Next time, Mr. Stark, I recommend you don't give your creations free will."

If that was a jab against Stark's creation of Ultron, he ignored it. Stark released a panel and the hangar bay door opened, revealing a free-for-all battle in the sky. The Sherman's jet fighters struggled to take out waves of HYDRA attackers, as did the guns, most of which were being disabled by the enemy, or worse, turned against their masters. Explosions were abound, and one of the falling aircraft nearly missed the heroes. "Let's go," said Steve, determined.

"Don't you need a parachute?" asked Stark.

"Nah." Without warning, Steve ran towards the opening and jumped, letting the air consume him. He let his skin breath through him, as the instructors at SHIELD had taught him. Said instructors were now dead, victims of a terrorist attack, but their advice lived on. Wanda went straight after him, followed by Vision. Bucky decided to go with the parachute, and Stark just flew out. The five of them flew past advancing rockets, debris from pieces of the helicarrier, several HYDRA henchmen that needed dispatching, and both friendly and rival aircraft.

Once the battle above was well past them, a new threat emerged: antaircraft. Fired from the castle's smaller watchtowers, the guns spewed out what could only be vibranium rounds, as the shield actually seemed to be taking a beating. Wanda quickly put up a handy forcefield, and the next danger passed.

Now was the harder part: landing and fighting their way to the bad guys.

* * *

It was so thick in the heat of battle, that no one saw the Quinjet land in one corner of the helicarrier. On the surface, it looked like any other in the Sherman's compliment. Inside, however, were a dozen troopers, handpicked for this specific mission. Also inside was Helmut Zemo, customized G36C rifle and sword at the ready.

The Quinjet opened, and the veteran mercenaries opened a hail of fire, wiping their sector of the deck clean. They moved out in a crescent shape to make sure the coast was clear, and then Zemo stepped out, leather antique boots slamming against the Sherman's deck.

"Kill them all," said Zemo, the wrath unmistakable. "Except for the secretary. I need him alive."

* * *

Frank gunned down two more of the incoming attackers and took a quick assessment. The deck was lost. What aircraft hadn't already fled and was fighting the enemy forces was getting destroyed at an astronomical rate. Planes and helicopters were literally being scraped off the deck and falling without control below, to be crushed somewhere in the Italian mountains. The crew of the Sherman, naturally, was no match for professional mercenaries and loyal HYDRA members in a gunfight. And all the Marines were already being deployed on Mons Chimera.

Fallback time. "Everyone, get the hell inside! Let them come to us. Give them no quarter!"

Easier said than done. Frank had to pull several crew members out of hiding spots that he knew would be overwhelmed by superior numbers in due time. He couldn't save them all, however, and saw some simply get swarmed, sent to their deaths by dozens of bullets at a time. He himself barely avoided taking shots to the knees, saved only by a metal door slamming shut.

Once in the inside of the helicarrier, however, Frank found an even worse situation: the security turrets, meant to serve as an extra defense mechanism, were firing on the Sherman's crew and operators, ripping them to shreds. Ducking behind a turned over file cabinet that Cline was also taking cover behind, he got on the comms and called Maria. "What the hell is this?"

"Zemo must have hacked the mainframe controlling the turrets," she replied, in her ever so slightly panicked but on the surface calm voice. "You'll need to isolate each turret from the mainframe, one by one. See a blue panel box all by itself?"

Frank saw one. However, it was straight in the line of fire of the still-firing turret. "Can't say it's going to be easy."

"Do what you need to do. I'm holed up in the armory with a few others, trying to see what international community can do to help us. We'll be going off for a few minutes. Good luck up there."

Hardly the best of news you wanted your pregnant girlfriend to tell you when in the middle of a war zone. But at least she wasn't dead. "Barton, you got any explosive arrows?"

Hawkeye's brow opened up: _you kidding me?_

"Destroy that turret."

"With pleasure." The archer fired in a fraction of a second, destroying the turret and allowing Frank much easier access to the turret control box. He opened it and used it to find the locations of the others, scattered across three levels. They'd have to destroy all of these along with fighting their way through the besiegers, who were breaching each level.

Not an easy day to be alive, as per usual. A commotion of people was gathered at the opposite of where Barton and Frank were, near the mess hall. Soldiers had gathered into hesitant defensive positions, with Black Widow at the ready, Taser baton in each hand. "What's the status on the other levels?" asked Barton.

"Alpha got out and dropped as soon as we were hit. SecDef Rusk is secure – for now. He's holed up in his office with a few bodyguards. There's no way Zemo's men can get in there unless they can fly through the windows-"

Natasha didn't have the opportunity to continue on. The door everyone was aiming at shattered, as if an RPG or some heavy ordinance had hit it. Men reeled and found new cover. Several smoke grenades popped, clouding the battlespace.

 _Diversion and distraction,_ thought Frank. He turned his night vision goggles on and began putting HYDRA men down. Their response was to fire back, catching many of the Navy's people by surprise. One, two, three, four. They went down like flies in a windshield. Frank knew this was a losing fight, but falling back further within the ship was also going to be a losing fight. He hated lose-lose situations. So he did something else. He shot the first attacker in the face while running to slam a second one against the way in a second, and he got a bullet too.

This gave reinforcements the time they needed to actively put up better resistance. Needless to say, the bad guys weren't going to break through here. Now they had to find the other gaps in the defense while assuring that all the other security turrets weren't rogue anymore. The next turret was in the mess hall itself, so the three ran into it, only to have to dodge as the turret was letting off thousands of rounds a minutes, leaving holes in the walls and floors.

Fortunately, this time, Frank was able to shoot it down when it had to perform its automated reloading process. While Natasha and Barton scanned the mess hall, looking for any signs of activity, Frank took the opportunity to phone in Maria.

"You there? Maria, do you copy?"

* * *

Maria wished she could answer Frank in time, but several things ended up keeping her response from being a quick one. The first was that Italy itself was refusing to send in any troops.

"But sir, this is your own nation that's under attack. Zemo is using your historical site-"

"Tell me something we haven't heard yet." The Italian army officer on the other side of the line was annoyed, and it was conveyed through his thick accent. "Those are my orders, not to destroy Mons Chimera. Do you understand?"

Fuming, Maria said "yes" and hung up. Just a split second before switching to Frank, one of the aides ran up to her. "There's a large number of them headed this way as we speak."

"How many? Take a guess?"

"At least a dozen."

There was no time to plan out anything. The five of them would have to hide quickly and take out the enemy pretty damn quick before they got down here. "Kill the lights," she said. "Make it as hard for them as possible."

The lights went out, but not before the door was barricaded and everyone got themselves a good position for cover. A minute later, a rough knock was heard on the door. "Surrender and you won't be harmed. No? Alright, we'll do this the hard way."

The door was kicked down. It took the first four to enter a second to adjust themselves to the dark, but they began putting on laser sights and night vision goggles to compensate. "Keep your eyes open. Easy to get separated with this power failure." One of them strayed too far to Maria's position, so she clamped down on his mouth and twisted his neck to a fairly dead angle.

_Scum._

The others heard nothing. Maria motioned for the man next to her to perform silent takedowns when possible, and he did just that when another trooper came in range. As with the first, his head was probably going to feel pretty awful in the next day. Maria took his weapon, a modified Scorpion EVO, and all ammo he had on him. Then she began firing back, catching the rest by surprise.

At her signal, the rest of the Navy's people began firing back with Glocks and Sig Sauers, putting neat bullet holes in HYDRA's assault team. Eventually only one was left, blasted in both knees. Maria walked up to him and threw him on a table. "How many of you are there?"

"I'm not telling you shit."

Maria slammed her fist against one of the knees, and the man writhed in pain. "Do we look like Boy Scouts to you? Reconsider your answer before I do that to the other knee."

It took another minute, but he eventually talked. They all talked. Zemo had attacked with four hundred men and three dozen aircraft, most of them helicopters and stolen Quinjets capable of reaching the altitude. Their purpose, as the man put it, was the cause enough havoc for Zemo's true plans.

"What true plans?" Maria asked.

"Um, he'll kill me if-"

Maria put the barrel of her gun at his head. "Won't have to worry about that."

"Hacking the ship and capturing someone important. That's all I know, I swear."

Maria's reading of his face indicated he was telling the truth. She handed him over to an officer while turning to one of her assistants getting off the phone with the EU. "Any help from the rest of Europe?"

The assistant shook her head. "We're on our own. God help us."

"God help Captain America."

* * *

The outer part of the fortress was cleaned in minutes. Aside from the fact that the defenders were anticipating that most of the heroes were busy with the helicarrier attack, the Avengers had taken their half of the castle completely by surprise. Wanda and Vision alone could have done this job all by themselves, but they worked as a team, as one unit.

Now, with the battle beginning to take form, it was absolute chaos below. There were _still_ so many henchmen left, sixty that Wanda could see. Something exploded; she couldn't tell what. Before one of them could attempt to take her out from behind, Steve shield bounced on the wall, swung up against the guardtower, and struck the man, sending him well into the sky. Up there, Iron Man caught him, and threw him somewhere where he wouldn't be an issue.

It was like this for a good ten minutes, with members almost playing catch or tag with each other as they found out various ways to kill and neutralize bad guys. From the radio chatter, Steve could tell that the Marines that had landed were busy with flushing out the town of all enemy combatants, far more than the sixty something where they were at. Steve took another look at the situation, then radioed the commander of the Marines. "Supporting elements, come in."

"As expected, Captain. They've been stockpiling the weapons, probably for days. Found a lot of international buyers among the HYDRA forces as well."

"Continue to secondary objectives of containment. 100 meter perimeter boundaries. I want this place locked down as we storm the damn castle."

"Will do."

Steve kicked in the wood and iron doors to the castle to find… nothing. Stark, Wanda, and Vision found the same. Bucky smashed a suit of armor adorning one of the halls, and nothing happened, even then. The collection of arms and armor seemed to be transported from a medieval world of knights and crusades to the twenty first century. Undaunted, Steve walked on, keeping the shield close and not letting his guard down now.

It was only out of the corner of his eye that he saw the weapon being charged. It was resembilent to the weapons the Red Skull had used in his mad quest to conquer Europe.

"Wanda!"

One of the energy weapons fired, hitting Wanda smack dab in the chest. She reeled and hissed, and was thrown straight into Steve was enough force for her to take him by surprise. The man with the weapon would have fired again, but was promptly shot in the head by Bucky. The rest of the hidden HYDRA forces also came out of hiding, from the ceiling and floor, and began to fight with the rest of the Avengers.

"You good?" asked Steve to Wanda. No way he would lose her in some petty mission like this.

"Worry about yourself. You could have been killed if it weren't for Bucky."

Steve smiled grimly. Wanda's equally grim sense of humor came out in the most odd of times, He picked himself off of her and began laying waste into the HYDRA troops in the room, throwing them into suits of armor and grinding them into the dirt. One man had his weapon charged and ready to fire, but Steve subtly stepped out the way and let Vision take the blast, as the android couldn't be harmed. The man took two steps towards Vision – and then received a cold fist to the face. He was then thrown into two more HYDRA troops.

Steve slammed his shield into another door, throwing back a henchman with it. In the next room, which looked like a throne room for the local lord back in the day, he found a dozen more troops in familiar green and yellow attire. All of their guns were aimed at him. In the middle of them, sitting on the marble throne, was Brock Rumlow, wearing his Crossbones mask.

"Back off," Rumlow said to his men. "He's mine." He leaped out of the throne and removed his mask, allowing Steve to see the full extent of his injuries. His face was covered in third degree burns, including several that reached the bone.

"And I thought the Red Skull was deformed," said Steve openly, challenging his adversary.

Rumlow charged.


	19. Sharks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter. I'm hoping to get this tied up in a few weeks or so. By that time, we'll know this is certainly not canon, but what the hell, enjoy anyways. It's not like adding Magneto in the next work was going to be any more plausible in the actual movies.

Deck by deck, Frank was clearing the Sherman with all his energy. Clint and Natasha were also being drained in a similar manner. You could see it in Frank's eyes, when an assailant burst through a window and it took all three of them to take him down. Or when Clint got shot in the shoulder, and had to use an arrow like a knife to get out of a sticky situation.

"This is useless," muttered Natasha, frustrated. "Unless we have reinforcements, Zemo's people are going to wipe us out and sink the ship. Why haven't they?"

Frank had an idea, but it could be for naught. "Contact Lance Hunter. Let me talk to him. He's got to be here."

"That'll be suicide for him. He'll have to blow cover."

"Not if we can meet him," said Frank. He took Lance's fancy gadget phone and input a message: are you onboard the Sherman?

A few minutes of fighting later, and a reply came back: yes. Very risky contacting me. What do you want?

_F: I want to meet up to discuss a plan. Where are you?_

_L: Hangar bay 3. Keeping watch with a few other scumbags? Not a problem?_

_Not a problem._ Frank motioned for Natasha and Clint to follow him as they diverted themselves from the battle to the alternate stairway. Forcunately, the HYDRA troops hadn't found it yet. "Hangar bay 3. Wipe out everyone but Lance. He'll make himself known to us."

"And if he doesn't?" asked Clint.

"He will. It'll be subtle, but it'll be there."

Another few levels of hacking, slashing, and shooting, and the hangar bay 3 was reached. The enemy in this area, it seemed, were rounding up hostages. For what purpose, Frank didn't know. What he did know was that they seemed terrified.

Frank tossed a flashbang and Natasha slid past several of them as it went off, making the HYDRA men disoriented. One of them took cover fast. That had to be Lance. Consequently, he was spared the fates of the other men. Once it was done, Lance took off his mask and brought the three up to date on the situation: "He wants secretary Rusk for a video. Don't know what it's about, but it'll be livestreamed. He definitely has ways of doing that."

"How?" asked Clint. "How'd he get in the office, I mean. That room was locked down."

"Ever heard of sliding down from ropes and kicking in the glass?"

"It doesn't matter how," said Frank, pacing back and forth while grasping on an arm would. It would need some stitches. "We need to get close to Zemo and in a way that doesn't make him double tap his hostages outright. I've got an idea, but I don't think you're going to like it."

"What idea?" asked Natasha.

"This." Frank took one of Lance's sidearms and shot himself in the shoulder with it. Had this been some ordinary chap, this plan would have never worked. Frank, however, was well known to have high degrees of pain tolerance. "Lance, call Zemo. Tell him you're bringing me in for interrogation. You two, follow us and stay back."

* * *

Steve could not believe the immense strength that Brock Rumlow now possessed. It was far beyond anything that he had encountered from him before. Clearly, he'd been getting his own supply of super soldier serum. But where? As far as he knew Bucky had only a watered down version at best. It couldn't give him Steve's strength, let along transfer it to another person. "Where'd you get the serum?" Steve asked angrily as he pushed one of the minions out of the way, slamming against his rival. "Who gave you the formula?!"

"Let's just say that it was a gift," Rumlow said. "A gift from someone who longs to see you in the dirt where you belong." With that, Rumlow pushed Steve's fist away, and gave his face a full load of a vibranium gauntlet. Steve was sent flying into the marble throne, yet it did not budge.

Crossbones slammed his gauntlets together, then laughed heartily. "You will die here. How else to better phrase it? I can't think of a better way."

Steve, however, was not willing to give up so easily. Wanda's telepathic link wasn't going to let him. She could sense him in the throne room, as she and the other Avengers battled the other HYDRA troops not yet engaged with the Marines. _Keep fighting, my love._

So he would. He tossed the shield in such a way that knocked out everyone but Crossbones. Rumlow barely knocked it out of the way, lest he be hit as well. "You thought that would work?!"

"It's just you and me now, isn't it?"

"I relish a challenge."

* * *

Frank, after shooting himself, allowed Lance to pretend to hold him captive through the decks of the Sherman that were under enemy control. After Lance had gain his clearance, Clint and Natasha cleaned the areas out of the HYDRA troops guarding it. A small fraction, to be certain, but every hit count in times like this.

With the other two standing in the back, out of sight, Lance dragged Frank into the office of Defense Secretary Dean Rusk. He was on his knees, hands behind his back, and had a gun to his head. Also in the room were Baron Helmut Zemo and five of his men, all positioned in strategic areas in the large office. No one was coming in or out.

 _Well,_ thought Frank, _I'm in, and I'm taking all of you out._

"Here he is, boss," said Lance lifelessly.

"Excellent work, limey." Zemo's German accent was there, but the English was flawless. "And here he is, the famous Punisher who gave everyone so much grief for years. How does it feel knowing that the last thing you'll be remembered for is being the man who killed Secretary Rusk?"

Lance was silent, though Frank could tell his blood pressure was rising. This apparently was made up on the spot.

"…oh course, we'll be just a little too late to stop it," said Zemo. Frank then realized that the uniforms his men were wearing could easily be modified into standard issue GSG9 outfits. "And you'll be shot multiple times trying to escape. Classic, but effective, and it works."

"No it's not." Rusk was defiant to the end, it seemed. "The camera footage is going to show-"

Zemo laughed. "Those cameras? We _own_ them. Your TV networks? We own them too. Despite what you think, we own every bit of information that goes through the global gears. And if I wanted to, I could make this whole assassination look like it was orchestrated by a class of kindergarteners. So shut up."

"Boss," said Lance, fulfilling his part of the plan. He moved himself in between Zemo and where Frank was kneeling. "Don't you think we should avoid all the grandstanding and actually get down to business?"

"I agree," said Zemo, surprising without any angry. "Let's start with the former vigilante-"

And then there was Frank's opportunity.

There was no other way for Frank to get close enough to Zemo without the HYDRA leader killing the secretary. So they had to lure him in. A fake capture was all Frank Castle needed. Sometimes the bad guy let his guard down and got too close. Like right now. As soon as Zemo's pistol hand raised, Frank grabbed it in the blink of an eye, twisted it, and tossed him over and under.

This all happened under two seconds.

It was up to Lance to fulfill the second part of the plan. Lance aimed his rifle and the HYDRA soldiers and began putting a bullet in each of their skulls. One by one, the three men on the right side of the office were sent down. The other two attempting to retaliate in that split second, but Frank had his own gun and shot them in well under half a second. After all that, Frank threw Zemo out of a window that led to the balcony where most of the commands took place on a normal day. With any luck, it would kill him. Secretary Rusk had been on the floor the whole time. "Rusk, you there?"

Rusk was dazed and confused. "What the…"

"It's called hostage rescue. You know, getting kidnapped people out of here safely."

* * *

Steve stumbled back in the hallway, some sector of the castle that no one from either side had managed to encounter yet. The hall was adorned with statues of the dukes and kings that had taken up residence in this castle over the years. Rumlow picked up one of them as if it was a bouncing ball and threw it at Steve.

Captain America destroyed it in midair with his fists, but knew that he was getting tired. This had to Rumlow's plan: to weaken him, tear him down. It was the only way to defeat someone with a super soldier serum. He grabbed the base of the remains of the statue and threw it back. Rumlow just charged head on through it, and survived too. He threw a second statue.

This time the shield was what kept him alive. He knew that his body was about to wear out for once, and become weaker than he'd been in years. Rumlow, on the other hand, seemed to be fueled by packets of the serum on his back and arms, and it provided him enough to slowly overpower America's superhero. "I finally beat you, Cap."

"No you haven't."

"You're struggling like you never have. I studied all your fights: World War II, New York, Sokovia, hell, even that time where you kicked my ass in an elevator. And with the means to fight your strength as an equal, I have you right where I want you, and you don't even know it."

"No you don't."

"But I do." Crossbones was now pressing down heavily on the shield, and it moved mere inches. "Your friends will never see you again. Your Wanda will grieve."

Steve pressed harder after hearing Wanda's name, but still to no avail. The shield was tossed aside and Rumlow grabbed Steve Rogers with both hands. "Now, how does one kill a living weapon?"

Steve didn't answer. He was simply too weak. Rumlow was receiving more serum than he had in his system.

" I've wondered it too. I considered just snapping your neck and getting it over with. Or maybe tossing you out the window to fall to your death. Or maybe, maybe, just impale you on the sword of Frederick II." Rumlow grabbed an antique but still sharp blade and toyed with it for a second.

"No. You are a living symbol of the so called good. You need to be broken."

Before Steve could react, Rumlow picked up Steve again, struggling as he did so, to lift him above Rumlow's head. Then, Rumlow lifted a knee and slammed Steve's back against it, cracking and most likely snapping it. Rumlow couldn't tell.

Fifty feet away, Wanda Maximoff felt it. It was the same feeling that had happened when she sensed Pietro's sacrifice.

And inside, she burned.


	20. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter took forever, but I figured my personal life took precedence. My dad passed away (peacefully, thank god) a few days ago, and he was going through a bunch of procedures the last few weeks. Maybe that's why this is so dark. In any case, fanfiction gives me a decent distraction from death and finals, so do leave your lovely little reviews if that's your thing. Maybe a thought or two my way? Repercussions will be next, if you haven't read that next.

When Pietro had died, Wanda had felt it and felt it very hard. Her powers had given her a telepathic link to anyone she deeply cared about. And when it was severed, it was hell on earth.

And now the same was happening again. Which only meant that Steve Rogers was on the brink of death.

She shouldn't have been surprised that it would happen again, but it did. She and Steve had gotten very close over the past few months, and it was the closest thing to family she had now. If he died, she would suffer a second death.

She screamed, and the world screamed with her. The other Avengers were all thrown off, and the HYDRA forces in the room slammed against roofs and walls. Then, she got up and few in Steve's vicinity. The man called Crossbones was dragging Steve's body, which she could tell had taking immense damage. His heart was almost about to give out.

"Tell me what you cherish most," He told Steve, before giving him an evil smile. "Give me the pleasure of taking it away from you." Then, Crossbones spotted Wanda. "What's the matter, princess? Prince Charming not-"

He didn't speak any more than that, because he couldn't. He was being holstered in the air, struggling to breath. Wanda's arms and hands spun lazily, like she did when experimenting with the toys that Strucker had given her in her first tests.

"What did you do to him?" Her words were made of cold, hard ice.

"N-Nothing really. Just snapped his back in two. It might-"

The red energy around his neck began getting ever so more tighter, and he began to choke from it. Wanda's eyes didn't leave him one bit. He was attempting to beg for mercy. What mercy?

Not even noticing Steve groan in pain, or Iron Man step into the room after charging in with his replusors, Wanda amplified Rumlow's torment. His insides burned, his tongue tied within his mouth, and his eyes rolled back inside. And this was without any external pain.

"Wanda," said Stark quickly, sensing everything and what was happening now. "Stop it. Stop it now. Killing him won't heal Steve Rogers. Damn it, Wanda!"

She didn't bother listening to him. She knew he wanted Rumlow alive for questioning. He didn't deserve that. When Rumlow's insides were turned out against him, Wanda snapped his neck with causal disregard. Not like she cared.

As soon as Rumlow's body fell, Wanda went to Steve's side and sobbed. He was almost dead. It would take a miracle to save him, and even in the age of miracles, it was not likely. SO she sobbed and sobbed.

As Stark and Vision cleaned up any remaining henchmen, Steve opened his eyes weakly to see his beloved above him, in great emotional agony. "Don't cry. I'm not dead. Well, not yet. I can hardly feel my legs, though."

Wanda sobbed even more.

"J-Just get me to a hospital and I'll be fine, babe."

Stark walked over to Steve and did a quick scan. "Yep, Rumlow really did a lot of damage. But if we get him proper attention in time-"

Suddenly Steve's body levitated. Wanda's doing. It followed her down the past the town Mons Chimera was situated, towards the nearest hospital in a nearby city. Stark took one last look at the dead, decimated body of Crossbones, and then stepped away, flying off to aid in any way he could in the helicarrier.

* * *

The Marines had all but finished cleaning up the rest of the fortress, from where the attack had been launched. It was all now a matter of salvaging the helicarrier. The last report showed Zemo's forces had near control of it. Unless a new source of allied firepower arrived anytime soon, it would have to be scuttled, with no guarantee of anyone's survival.

Despite Zemo's defeat in the office, the battle was going HYDRA's way. Their remaining forces were still more than a match for the SHIELD and DoD personnel left, and were inching extremely close to control of the entire ship. If that happened, everyone here was dead. The helicarrier was an Insight prototype, and could easily swat any reinforcements like gnats.

At least that was how Maria Hill told Frank and Clint as they found a closet to stash the Secretary of Defense in. Hidden in plain sight.

"How long until Stark or Vision can get here?" asked Clint.

"At least five minutes. The men on the main deck won't last that long. It's already a damn massacre."

Frank looked, and saw this to be a true statement. Half of those guys had probably never had to use a firearm in their whole careers. They were mowed down pretty fast, their desks now operated by HYDRA men that began plugging in flashdrives and cables that began rewiring the ship for a new purpose.

That purpose was control.

Well, he had to try. And if they all died, thought Frank, goddamn fuck it. He wasn't going to be pussy whipped at the last minute. He ran into the chaos, firing in all directions he saw enemies as he went. Clint and Natasha followed close behind. Maria stayed back, directing orders from a safer location, and relayed by Sharon Carter.

For a moment, it looked like they might stalemate this battle. HYDRA's people up here would all be dead or dying, and the ship would have to be salvaged by any means necessary. But it didn't look that way, as the final wave of HYDRA's people began their own last push. There were still enough of them to take on all of them. It was the end.

Until a massive burst of machine gun fire enveloped the main control room.

Frank, Natasha and Clint all ducked themselves as the HYDRA soldiers fell to hundreds of thousands of bullets being fired all at once. _Who could it have been? Iron Man uses repulsors, and none of the countries Maria called were coming to our aid. Unless they were?_

The next thing Frank saw confirmed the latter. Six helicopters flew by in the nearest window, the Russian tricolor flag of blue, white, and red on the side.

Russian forces had come to their aid.

After being label as the boogey man for the good part of the past two weeks, Russia was looking to make it up.

Dozens of Russian aircraft and helicopters were attacking the remaining HYDRA C-130s, sending them crashing into the Adriatic Sea. Russian troops were being landed on the deck, giving the SHIELD/American forces the boost they needed. Had the Russians not arrived, the HYDRA troops might have won. Instead, they were the ones being routed.

What a much needed morale boost. A godsend, no less.

* * *

The assassin watched as the Russian forces arrived in masse, destroying everything that his allies had accomplished. HYDRA had attacked this ship with everything they had, in the hopes of no reinforcements for Rusk and his ilk. This was the worst possible time for Russia to give up its petty feud and come to America's aid for once.

Oh well. Not like said assassin enjoyed life that much. Humans fighting and killing each over the most trivial of things – that was where he thrived. From his makeshift sniper's nest on the ladder, he set up the AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum) sniper rifle, his preferred weapon of choice, and waited. He could afford to wait a little bit.

Eventually, his preferred target of choice – the Punisher – had stopped, talking with the woman who was once second in command of SHIELD. There were plenty of strange bedfellows, but this one had to be near the top of the list. It didn't help matters that the assassin had lost an ear fighting the Punisher, when he'd been an enforcer for the Irish Mob in Hell's Kitchen. Payback made his choice all the much easier.

He caught the Punisher in his sights and fired.

* * *

Frank saw the sniper, but it was one too late. The man fired and the bullet came speeding for him. The end was near. It was a straight shot.

But it wasn't.

Clint Barton saw the man. But, lacking an arrow in his immediate hand to fire back, he did the next best thing: take a bullet. It was a 50/50 chance of being a serious wound, and he wasn't going to let Maria go nuts over her boyfriend spilling blood at the worst possible time for the two of them.

The bullet entered and exited Clint's chest. He slumped into both Maria and Frank, hitting the catwalk they were on with a heavy thud.

Frank's immediate reaction was to aim his weapon in the direction of the sniper, who was now switching from a sniper rifle to a submachine gun. He was ready to fire, but Frank fired first, sending the other man falling off his ledge with a cry of anguish. Frank went to where he fell and put a bullet in his head for good. He doubted that he was going to talk anyways. As several Russians began taking up a defensive perimeter, Frank went back to Clint.

Hawkeye was passing out, and very possibly on the verge of death. His face seemed to have a sense of accepting his destiny. "You got him?'  
"Yeah. Now don't die on me."

"Who cares? As long as it means you and _her_ survive, it's alright. I just wish I'd have made another phone call to Laura-"

"Goddamnit Barton," snarled Maria, in a more enraged mode. "Don't act like you're dead just yet. There's a hospital where Wanda dropped off Rogers, five miles from here. Can someone spare a Quinjet?"

"I wish we could, mam," said the voice over the comms, "but it appears that the surviving HYDRA forces, including Baron Zemo, have taken off in the remaining vehicles. We missed him by seconds."

 _Damn._ HYDRA should have been dead. Now, Zemo could regroup with Malick somewhere, hide out for a few months, and come back with some nefarious plot to fuck things up again. Not good when loose ends decide to stay that way.

Frank headed that way, leaving Maria tending to a dying Clint Barton in her arms.

* * *

_Epilogue_

Wanda managed to get Steve Rogers to that hospital, which in turn transferred to a much more advanced hospital in Rome. As the doctors told her, it was a miracle.

She doubted that. His spine was broken in multiple areas, all of which would require extensive surgery using even the latest methods. The chance of a potential death was present at all times. She waited in the room outside with Frank and Maria, who tended to her and her emotions. If Steve died, Wanda would do doubt have another one of her fits, and would need to be reasoned with quick.

"How you holding up?" asked Frank. After he'd chased his way down the spare hangar bay where the last Quinjets were, he saw the HYDRA sabotaged jet with Zemo at the helm. A few Russian helicopters went after it, but Frank doubted they'd match the speed.

"I try. To think of him-"

"Hey, look at me." That was Maria, attempting to keep the human equivalent of a nuclear meltdown from happening. "He wouldn't want to see you like this, now would he?"

"No," she said, blowing her nose for what must have been the hundredth time.

And they silently watched Steve Rogers in surgery.

Outside, two figures watched from one of the Seven Hills of Rome. One was about 25, blonde, and carrying a small portable lighter device attached to each hand. The other, older, wore an outfit with crimson and dark purple, with a Roman-styled helmet covering his face.

"Safe," said the older man. "But not the time to intervene."

* * *

HYDRA was destroyed two weeks after the battle of Mons Chimera. The losses they suffered that day had been extremely crippling, and what few cells remained intact had either scattered or had driven themselves so deep underground that they would no longer play a major role in world politics. Several made a last stand attacking London, but a combined British/American/Russian task force all but annihilated them.

Gideon Malick had cleaned his offices in Washington and stole $75 million from the Treasury Department. Helmut Zemo retreated to an undisclosed location in Eastern Europe, licking his wounds and plotting his next scheme. What, do you think screwing around with the Avengers was the only trick in his sleeve?

* * *

"Ares International is now your private military corperation, Mr. Wilson-"

"Call me Slade."

* * *

Clinton Barton was laid to rest a month after Mons Chimera. His body simply didn't want to live. Sometimes it was just like that. The doctors had far less luck with him than they did with Steve Rogers.

Wanda and Frank were both used to it. Death had become commonplace for both of them. Still, neither of them would forget the Avenger that had played a key role in recruiting both of them.

Laura Barton mourned silently, behind the black veil. Her two eldest children unsurprisingly cried most of the time. Young Nathaniel was still too young to comprehend everything. Maria couldn't help but feel bad that he would never get to truly know his father. Still, she could do something. After the coffin was put in the ground, Maria handed Laura an envelope.

In it were several gifts from Fury that would see Laura through her golden years, and Clint's children through college.

* * *

The Avengers would ultimately be left in political Limbo. A majority of the population still wanted superheroes kept in check, but the world owed quite a few favors to them. For now, the team would be suspended, to be reinstated at a later date.

* * *

"What do you think?" asked Frank. He had picked out a nice pink crib. The latest ultrasound had revealed that it was girl, several months after the final battle.

"I like it," said Maria, who'd finally gotten to pamper herself. With any luck, she'd make a great mother. Of that Frank had little doubt.

* * *

Around the same time, as Wanda pushed Steve in his wheelchair, tending to his daily routine, there was a knock on the door to his room. Wanda opened it to find a robed man with a beard and gaunt face.

"Pardon me," he said, "Are you Wanda Maximoff?"

"I am."

"My name is Stephen Strange. I hear you could use some training in magic?"

* * *

Thanos stepped out of his chair and turned towards three of his Chitauri captains. Unknown to most, there were far more Chitauri from where the species came from. Each of these three captains commanded an army half the size of the one that had attacked Earth.

At long last, the Infinity Stones would be recovered by the only being capable of truly appreciating them.

"You," said Thanos to the first captain, "take your army to Asgard. The Tesseract is there, and Loki has had his fun masquerading as his adopted father long enough. Do what must be done to take control of the planet."

"The second of you, take your best troops to Knowhere and find Taneleer Tivan, who is in possession of the Aether. Retrieve the Aether from him. Should he refuse to part with it willingly, kill him and take it by force."

"And you, the third among your number, I have a special assignment for you. You will ravage the galaxy, heading to Earth, and let the peoples of the universe know that Thanos is coming, and he's hungry."


End file.
